BRIEF - Naira depreciates to N718 at black market, CBN blames NNPC

 The Nigerian currency, Naira, has depreciated to its lowest level at the black market

as students, exporters desperately look for dollars to offset their foreign bills.

According to information gathered from traders on Thursday, Naira closed at N718 to a dollar compared to N700/$ recorded the previous day.

With the exchange rate now at N718 per dollar, it indicates that Naira has depreciated by N100 in just 10 days

At the official channels it was tough for some bank users who could not access thier funds in their domiciliary accounts due to lack of liquidity.

Meanwhile, CBN has blamed the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for naira’s free fall in the official and parallel markets.

The CBN explanation was given in a report that was released yesterday.

NNPC and its subsidiaries are the sole managers of crude oil which accounts for more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s Foreign Exchange (forex) earnings.

In the CBN report titled: “The forex question in Nigeria: Fact sheet”, the apex bank disclosed that “domestically, there has been zero dollar remittance to the country’s foreign reserve by the NNPC, insisting that the CBN does not print dollars.

The report states: “As noted by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, monetary policy alone cannot bear all the burden of the expected adjustments needed to manage these difficulties. It’s our collective duty as Nigerians to shore up the value of the naira.”

According to the apex bank, Nigeria earns foreign exchange from four sources – proceeds from oil exports; proceeds from non-oil exports; diaspora remittances, and Foreign Direct/Portfolio Investments (capital flows).