Nigeria’s currency, the naira has been reported to be one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, after Ghana’s cedi, which has plummeted to almost 55% this year, and the Sri Lankan Rupee. This was according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports also had it that Nigeria’s economy was operating on a tightly controlled official rate but it’s in the parallel market where the exchange rate of the local currency is greatly determined by the level of demand for the dollar.
According to Bloomberg, the naira has officially been performing well this year, with the currency only down just 4% against a strong US dollar, ahead of the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc. But that is only a fraction of the story.
The official exchange rate is used only by the government while, ordinary Nigerians are suffocating under the 37% drop on the widely-used black market, which most have accepted as a better, alternative measure for the local currency.
Businesses and the citizens are feeling the consequences as the volatility of the Naira is the single largest contributor to the surge in inflation which is ravaging the country’s economy, taking the cost of literally everything to the top and causing considerable concern and worry ahead of the end of the year festivities.
According to a bureau de change operator in Lagos State, the naira officially closed at 442.75 on Friday, November 4 but currency traders in Nigeria’s commercial city had commented that the greenback was at 890 that same day.
