Naira Street Value’s Plunge to 1,000/$1 Vexes Nigerian Lawmakers

Ruth Olurounbi and Ekow Dontoh
·1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Nigerian senators voiced concern about the naira at a hearing to confirm the county’s new central bank governor, after the currency weakened to a record low against the dollar.

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“What are you going to do in the short term, middle term and long term” to rescue the naira? asked Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, echoing the sentiment of other lawmakers as they questioned Olayemi Michael Cardoso on Tuesday in the capital, Abuja. “Because naira is finished.”

The Nigerian currency earlier fell to the psychologically important threshold of 1,000 per dollar on the parallel market from 990, according to Abubakar Mohammed, chief executive officer of Forward Marketing Bureau de Change Ltd., which compiles data on the informal market in Lagos, the commercial capital.

The parallel-market rate is now about 29% weaker than the official exchange rate of 775.37 per dollar. The two rates briefly converged soon after newly elected President Bola Tinubu announced sweeping currency reforms in June, but they’ve diverged steadily since then as dollar supply from the central bank fell short.

Nigeria’s Senate is considering the confirmation of Cardoso and the central bank’s four deputy governors. They’re all expected to win approval.

Read More: Nigeria Names Acting Central Banker With Battered Naira in Focus

--With assistance from Anthony Osae-Brown.

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