Naira Falls Against Euro to N550

The Nigerian Naira declined against the Euro single currency on the parallel market on Friday.

The local currency declined by N3 from N547 per unit Euro it exchanged on Thursday to N550 on Friday.

Against the British Pound, the Naira traded at N605, the same rate it exchanged on Monday.

The Naira continues to decline following plunge in the nation’s foreign revenue and available dollar liquidity.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, on Thursday said the nation may plunge into another economic recession in the third quarter given the impacts of COVID-19 on revenue generation.

According to Ahmed, the COVID-19 pandemic weighed on Nigeria’s foreign revenue generation while the measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria impacted negatively on the economy.

She said “Nigeria is exposed to spikes in risk aversion in the global capital market, which will put further pressure on the foreign exchange market as foreign portfolio investors exit the Nigerian market.

“Nigeria’s Q2 GDP growth is in all likelihood negative and unless we achieve a very strong Q3 2020 economic performance, the Nigerian economy is likely to lapse into a second recession in four years with significant adverse consequences.

“In response to the developments affecting the supply of foreign exchange to the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adjusted the official exchange rate to N360, and more recently to N379.”