The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Saturday regulated the official exchange rate to N379 to the dollar.
The official exchange rate stayed at N361 to the dollar for about five months until yesterday’s change, seen as a big win for stakeholders.
The adjustment of the official exchange rate in line with CBN’s initial commitment to the IMF where the regulator assured to unify the exchange rate as part of the provisions for retrieving $3.4 billion IMF loan in May.
The loan, under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), intended to support Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19 and settle urgent balance of payment needs.
The Federal Government guaranteed to work on the way to “full exchange rate unification and greater exchange rate flexibility” to help maintain foreign exchange reserves and evade economic dislocation.
The new official exchange rate shown on the CBN website is closer to the N381/$ traded on the secondary market intervention sales (SMIS) window.
Though, the naira draw to a close at N475 to dollar at the parallel market where a large part of the demand for dollars have shifted to.
