The naira, on Monday, February 12, 2024, continued to suffer depreciation against the U.S. dollar as it exchanged at N1,534 on the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

The depreciation of the naira on Monday, a record low, indicated a loss of 3.93 per cent fall, or N58 from the N1,476.13/$ the national currency closed on Friday, February 9.

At the parallel market on Monday, the naira traded between the rate of N1,480 and N1,490, according to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that publishes official foreign exchange trading in Nigeria.

It appears the local currency has been trading higher at the parallel market in recent times, especially since the FMDQ reviewed the methodology it uses to calculate the official exchange rate.

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The change in the methodology for the calculation of the official exchange rate led to the depreciation of the naira from over 900/$ to over 1,400/$.

In December 2023, the naira closed above the N1000/$ on the official window. On December 8, the naira first fell to an all-time low of N1,099.05/$. On December 28, 2023, it closed at N1043.09/$, and N1035.12/$ on January 3, 2024.

On January 9, 2024, it closed at N1089.51/$ and N1082.32/$ on January 10, 2024. It had also fallen to an all-time low of N1348.63/$ on January 30, 2024, when the FMDQ reviewed its methodology for the calculation of the official exchange rate.

Dollar sales by banks, however, dropped by 56.58 per cent to $253.77 million last Friday from the peak of $584.53 million on Monday, the first trading day after the CBN ordered banks to sell excess dollars in the official FX market.

It was learnt that commercial banks in the country sold a total of $1.97 billion in one week.

The Star