'No more N900': Naira falls to lowest level in history against US dollar at black market

The Nigerian currency, Naira, has plunged to its lowest level in history against the US dollar at the unofficial market amid supply woes and no clear direction from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Black market traders who spoke to Legit.ng confirmed that one dollar was sold to Nigerians in search of foreign currencies at N1,040/$.

This represents a N20 or 1.96 per cent depreciation compared to Tuesday's exchange rate of N1,020.

Muhammdu Yusuf, a BDC operator in Lagos, said:

“We bought for N1,005/$ and sold for N1,035/$, N1040/$ on Wednesday. Dollar is still scarce. This is why the value of the naira has been falling "It seems it will take a while for naira to returns to around N900/$ exchange rate.”

Also, Abubakar Mohammed, chief executive officer of Forward Marketing Bureau de Change Ltd., which compiles data on the informal market, said the Naira was sold at N1,035/$, Bloomberg reports.

It was also a similar story in the Peer-to-peer market, used mainly by Fintechs and cryptocurrency traders, as the Naira declined to N1,037 on Wednesday compared to N1,021 exchanged a day earlier.

The depreciation also occurred in the foreign exchange market's official investors and exporters segment.

Data from FMDQ Securities showed that the Naira at the I&E window fell slightly to N776.80 per dollar on Wednesday, down from the N765.83 per dollar exchange rate reported the previous day.

This decline happened because forex transactions on Wednesday amounted to only $29.06 million, marking the lowest level in recent history and indicating the supply challenges that Nigeria is facing.