Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Naira fell to a record low over-the-counter on the last trading day of 2021, closing at N435/$. This came amid uncertainty about the market outlook as the economy wobbles into a new year. The Naira had sold at a discount of over 15% to a dollar at the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) window last year. The forward market, which measures the perception about the near-to-medium-term outlook of the Naira, moved on a much narrower range of between N452.12/$ and N453.12/$. The dollar traded for about N475/$ in the early days of last year and hit N575/$ at the height of last year's currency crisis. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pledged to rally convergence around NAFEX, but a full rate harmonisation has not been achieved. The recent tumbling of the Naira at the official window is being interpreted differently, with some experts seeing it as the beginning of a more liberalised market. A former Assistant Director at the CBN, Stan Ukeje, told The Guardian that the market would need to be deepened with more participants enlisted to reduce the intervention of the apex bank and make it a truly market-driven window.