Naira Falls Against Dollar, Trades at N463 on Black Market

The Nigerian Naira declined against the United States dollar on the black market following the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adjust the nation’s official foreign exchange rate.

The local currency depreciated by N2 against the US dollar from the N461 it exchanged on Wednesday to N463 on Thursday after the news of CBN adjustment became known.

The apex bank had adjusted the official foreign exchange rate from the N360 previously used for the US dollar to N380 due to the recent changes in macro fundamentals of the nation.

This is the Naira lowest exchange rate on the black market in almost three years and highlighted the nation’s precarious position especially when the escalating inflation rate of 12.4 percent is factored in.

On Tuesday, United Capital Plc said given current economic situation that the official exchange of the Naira is expected to slide to N430 to a US dollar by the end of the year.

The pan-African investment banking and financial services group said “On the exchange rate, we believe the odds are in favour of a further naira adjustment, which may take the official rate to N410/$ to N430/$ by year-end.

“However, we believe the Central Bank of Nigeria will continue to defend the value of the local unit for as long as it can.”

It went on to predict that the economy will shrink by 2.69 percent in 2020, down from the 2.3 percent growth predicted earlier in the year.