Amidst hunger protest, Naira slumps against dollar

The Naira on Friday recorded a significant depreciation against the dollar in a single day at the foreign exchange market to end the week on a negative note.

The development came as the hardship protest which started on Thursday entered day two on Friday.

Data from FMDQ Depository Limited showed that the Naira depreciated to N1, 617.08 per dollar on Friday from N1, 570.00 exchange on Thursday, losing N47.08.

Similarly, on the black market, the Naira weakened to N1, 610 per dollar on Friday from N1, 600 exchanged the previous day.

A Bureau De Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Dayyabu Ashiru, said: “We buy at N1, 610 per dollar on Friday evening from N1600 Thursday, when offices closed due to the Hardship Protest”.

This has rolled back, the two consecutive gains the naira recorded on Wednesday and Thursday.

It would be recalled that on a week-on-week basis, the Naira declined at official and parallel foreign exchange markets which recorded N1, 609.29 and N1595 per dollar, respectively, last Friday.

This means that the currency has failed to stabilise despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy interventions in the past months.

However, the gap between the official and parallel FX markets has continued to shrink which stood at N7.08 on Friday.