The naira on Tuesday exchanged at N1,000 to the United States dollar at the parallel market, a historic dip that spotlights the weakness of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to manage the national currency amid runaway inflation.
While the central bank’s rate appeared to stabilise at N768 per dollar over the past week, the currency value has sunk to critical depths for those trying to access it at the parallel market, where most foreign exchange transactions are conducted in Nigeria.
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According to Abokifx, a website that aggregates daily rates for Nigerians using parallel market sources, the dollar sold at N1,000 on Tuesday morning.
Abokifx gained prominence shortly after the naira began a steep freefall in 2016, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s brazen display of power over the central bank’s activities, which turned off international investors and reduced dollar inflow into Nigeria even as demand grew from within the country.
Ousted Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) attacked Abokifx in 2021 for allegedly manipulating the exchange rate at the parallel market.
Abokifx’s shutdown in September 2021 has so far done nothing to stop the naira’s free fall and steep crashing at the parallel market. But critics admonished Mr Emefiele at the time to focus on stabilising the naira rather than his 2023 presidential ambition, which appeared to have distracted him from functioning efficiently as Nigeria’s top banker.
The naira has continued to depreciate considerably against the dollar despite Mr Tinubu’s attempt to allow the free market to determine its value. It was exchanging at about N650 when Mr Tinubu took over from Mr Buhari on May 29.
