The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday took a very hard decision on the naira. The apex bank has devalued the local currency by 5.54 per cent to N381 to $1, according to data on the website of FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, the Lagos-based platform that oversees foreign-exchange trading.
The naira was exchanging at N360 to dollar at the official market before now. This was the second time the CBN was devaluing the naira exchange rate at the official market this year. In March, it devalued the naira from N307 to dollar to N360 to dollar.
The bank has not issued a statement about this and is yet to change to the rate in its official website, which was last updated on July 3.
The currency depreciation comes after Governor Godwin Emefiele announced lasmonth that the bank plans to unify its multiple exchange rates to improve the transparency of its currency-management system.
The central bank also devalued the currency in March, when it adjusted the official peg against the dollar to 360 naira from 307. However, Emefiele said at the time the move was “an adjustment of price and not a devaluation of the currency.”
Investors and the International Monetary Fund have long called for Nigeria to merge its multiple exchange rates, saying the absence of a single rate creates confusion and deters foreign investment.
Aside devaluing the naira in March, the CBN also adopted a unified exchange rate, and pushed the official rate of the naira to N376 to dollar for International Money Transfer Operators rate to banks; N377 to dollar for banks’ dollar sale to CBN and pegged CBN’s dollar sales to banks at N378.