Amid ongoing protests by Nigerians over hardship, the naira experienced a notable decrease in value against the dollar in a single day at the foreign exchange market, closing the week on a negative trend.
Data from FMDQ revealed that the naira fell to N1,617.08 per dollar on Friday from the previous day’s rate of N1,570.00, marking a loss of N47.08.
In a similar vein, the naira depreciated on the black market, reaching N1,610 per dollar on Friday compared to N1,600 the day before.
A Bureau De Change operator, Dayyabu Ashiru, located in Wuse Zone 4, stated, “We purchased at N1,610 per dollar on Friday evening, up from N1,600 on Thursday when operations ceased due to the Hardship Protest.”
This downturn erased the gains the naira had made on Wednesday and Thursday.
According to NewsNow, the naira saw a week-on-week decline in both official and parallel foreign exchange markets, with rates standing at N1,609.29 and N1,595 per dollar respectively the previous Friday.
Despite policy interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria over recent months, the currency has struggled to find stability.
Nevertheless, the gap between the official and parallel FX markets has been decreasing, reaching N7.08 on Friday.
These changes coincide with the continuation of the hardship protests, which entered their second day on Friday.