By John Ikani
Nigeria’s currency the Naira on Thursday depreciated 0.54 per cent against the dollar at the official window, marking a five-month low.
Data published by FMDQ, where forex is officially traded revealed that the local unit which opened trading at N420.26, closed at N422.50 to a dollar at the close of business on Thursday.
Within the past five months, the currency has been trading between the range of N417 and N420 and above mark before settling at N422.50 at the close of sales Thursday, fourth business day of this week.
The depreciation represents a N2.25 or 0.54 per cent devaluation from N420.25 it traded in the previous market session on Wednesday.
The naira hovered within an intraday high of N413.00 and dropped to a low of N444.00 before closing at N422.50 per $1 on Thursday.
This is the weakest rate the naira exchanged officially with the dollar in the last five months after closing at N422.67 to a dollar on January 5.
However, the local currency clinched a meagre gain at the parallel market on Thursday.
Uyo currency dealers exchanged the naira at N602.00 and sold N605.00 to a dollar, while Abuja black market dealers at Wuse Zone 4 said the currency was exchanged at N595.00 and sold at N597.00 per $1 on Thursday.
