Reportedly, the Naira has experienced a slight decline against the US Dollar in the forex market for the first time since March 2024, a change attributed to the decreasing FX reserves.
Data from FMDQ revealed that the Naira slipped from N1,136.04 on Monday to N1,148.14 against the Dollar on Tuesday after enjoying stability for months.
This accounts for a 1% or N12 depreciation in comparison to Monday’s rate of N1,136.04.
Correspondingly, in the parallel market, the Naira dropped to N1,100 per Dollar from N1,050 on the previous day.
Notably, the Naira experienced a N50 depreciation against the US Dollar in the black market.
The last instance of the Naira losing value in the forex market was on March 9 when it fell to N1627.40 per Dollar.
Despite this recent fluctuation, the Naira has shown consistent appreciation for months, largely due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency defense efforts.
For instance, in April, the Naira was identified as the top-performing currency by Goldman Sachs.
In recent months, the CBN intervened by selling USD to Bureau De Change operators at a controlled rate, narrowing the gap between official and parallel market rates.
Concurrently, the country’s FX reserves have dropped from $34.45 billion in March to $32.29 billion on April 15, 2024.
This decrease aligns with the lower revenue generated from crude oil in March.
Nigeria’s crude oil production fell to 1.23 million barrels per day in March, down from 1.32 million barrels per day in February.
Government officials have pledged to increase production in the upcoming months to bolster revenue.