Naira depreciates to N780 per dollar

The local currency had closed at N758/$ at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window and N940/$ at the parallel market on Wednesday.

The naira fall continued despite uptick in crude oil prices. Brent gained 1.38 per cent to $93.15bp after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts tighter markets on slimmer OPEC+ output.

At $93pb, Brent has climbed to its highest level in 10 months. The EIA is forecasting that the price of Brent crude will average $92.68pb in fourth quarter, and $91pb by first quarter of 2024.

However, Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, said oil prices could soften, as a rise in the US inflation rate to 3.7 per cent may prompt the US Fed to hike interest rates further at their next meeting on September 19 and 20.

The naira rates also created N170/$ margin between the official and parallel market rates. The rates have continued to crash despite promise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Acting Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, to clear estimated $10 billion backlog in two weeks.