Naira Crashes to N1,540/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Black Market

Data showed that the value of the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by N2.00 or 0.16 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window to close at N1,540.50/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing rate of N1,538.50/$1.

However, the domestic currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading session by N4.01 to trade at N1,930.21/£1 compared with the preceding trading day’s N1,934.22/£1 and against the Euro, it improved its value by N7.38 to sell for N1,598.09/€1 versus last Friday’s N1,605.47/€1.

But in the black market segment, the Nigerian currency weakened against its American counterpart on Monday by N10 to sell for N1,650/$1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s rate of N1,640/$1.

In its latest assessment, credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, warned that a larger-than-expected budget deficit in 2025 could lead to further Naira depreciation.

It warned that missing the fiscal deficit target could heighten pressure on the exchange rate, adding that while the introduction of an electronic FX matching platform on December 2, 2024, is a step towards greater transparency, progress in addressing FX challenges has been slower than anticipated.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices experienced a rocky outcome due to poor US macroeconomic data and rampant profit-taking, with Bitcoin (BTC) shedding 0.99 per cent to sell at $92,704.80.

Litecoin (LTC) slid by 3.3 per cent to $98.38, Cardano (ADA) went down by 3.2 per cent to $0.8424, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 2.6 per cent to $0.3115, Ripple (XRP) lost 2.2 per cent to quote at $2.03, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.9 per cent to finish at $3,352.23, and Solana (SOL) slumped by 1.4 per cent to $189.30.

On the flip side, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.11 per cent to $698.69, US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 per cent to close at $0.9986, and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00.