Naira Plunges to N470 Against US Dollar on Black Market

The Nigerian Naira plunged further against the United States dollar on the black market on Tuesday as forex scarcity persists.

The local currency depreciated to N470 a US dollar on Tuesday, its lowest in over three years. This was N5 lower than the N465 it exchanged on Monday.

Naira plunged to N460 per US dollar almost three weeks ago and has remained within that range ever since.

This, experts, attributed to the nation’s weak foreign revenue generation and economic uncertainties amid global pandemic. While the Central Bank of Nigeria has put measures in place to arrest the situation and consistently support the nation’s currency, low oil prices and weak foreign revenue generation have continued to dictate investors’ sentiment in the Nigerian market.

This lack of confidence in policy direction has resulted in low capital importation and surged in capital flight, especially those looking to move their funds to a safe haven.

Against the British Pound, the Naira slid to N570, down from N565 it Exchange on Monday and Friday.

This decline continues against the European single currency as the local currency dropped by N5 from N510 it traded on Monday to N515 on Tuesday on the black market.

On the Investors and Exporters’ Forex Window, the Naira remained flat against the US dollar. It was exchanged at N386 to a US dollar, the same rate it traded on Monday.

However, investors’ daily turnover declined from $36.28 million recorded on Monday to 12.91 million on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, OPEC has said Nigeria’s will struggle to increase economic productivity in 2020 given its rising cost of debt servicing and weak oil prices.

This, the cartel attributed to low tax revenue and huge debt servicing to revenue ratio.