THE Naira depreciated by 41 per cent and 26 per cent against the dollar in the official and parallel foreign exchange markets, respectively, to end 2024, despite interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This comes as the exchange rate against the dollar closed at N1,538.25 in the last trading session of 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, the Naira fell by 41 per cent when compared to N907.11 per dollar at the end of 2023, according to FMDQ data.
Similarly, the Naira weakened by 26.6 per cent at the black market compared to the N1,215 per dollar exchange rate at the end of 2023. The depreciation in both markets occurred despite the rollout of policy interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria under Olayemi Cardoso.
Recall that in May 2024, the apex bank introduced fresh guidelines for Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in Nigeria to regulate their activities.
At different intervals, the CBN also intervened in the FX market, supplying dollars to licensed BDC operators at a subsidized rate. The latest intervention by the CBN was the introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) in 2024.
In the 2025 projection, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his annual budget presentation, benchmarked the exchange rate at N1,500 per dollar.
