Hanke’s Currency Watchlist places the Naira, the currency of Nigeria, as the 11th worst performing currency relative to the US dollar.
According to the data, the Naira had lost 48.87% of its value relative to US dollars as of September 2, 2022, compared to its value in January 2020.
The data also shows that the second-worst performing currency in the world is the Zimbabwean RTGS dollar, which has lost 99.33% of its value against US dollars. The currency that performed the worst overall had a depreciation rate of 99.39%.
Prof. of Applied Economics Steve H. Hanke expressed his displeasure with the way the Nigerian government is managing the Naira.
He said “In this week’s Hanke’s #CurrencyWatchlist, Nigeria takes the 11th place. The naira has depreciated against the USD by 48.87% since Jan 2020. With Sleepy Buhari at the helm, the Nigerian naira is tanking.”
The naira-to-dollar exchange rate has collapsed from N565/$1 to N705/$1, a loss of N140/$ for the entire year on the black market.
However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has maintained artificial stability in the official forex window by selling foreign exchange from its reserves. The official exchange trades at around N430/$, expanding the gap between the official market and black market.
Consequently, Nigeria’s external reserves shrank by $1.496 billion year to date. The drop in reserves is even more concerning given the recent spike in crude oil prices.