TThe Central Bank of Nigeria has adopted the Nafex rate as the government’s official exchange rate for the naira, effectively devaluing the currency by 7.6 per cent.

The CBN reported an official exchange rate of N410.25/$1and referenced it as “NAFEX Exch, Rate (USD) as at Monday, May 24, 2021” on its website.

Recall, gnbnews reported on May 14th that the CBN had removed from its website the exchange rate that for about a year was seen as the government’s official rate.

Since the Central Bank last adjusted the exchange rate in August 2020, it has retained the exchange rate of N379/$1 on its website homepage which in the past, represented the official exchange rate. The exchange rate displayed on the website has historically been referenced as the official exchange rate of the country.

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However, all government transactions since 2021 have been converted using the prevailing exchange rate at the official NAFEX window confirming that the erstwhile official exchange rate of N379/$1 was dead. The CBN’s adoption of NAFEX on its website confirms this is now Nigeria’s official exchange rate.

The latest move indicates an effort by the Nigerian government to unify the exchange rate for naira, a key requirement put forward by the World Bank for Nigeria to access a $1.5 bilion credit.

Nigeria before now operated three rates, namely, the CBN fixed rate, the Nafex rate and the parallel market.

Naira fell at the black market on Monday  to 486 a dollar, a mark it had not touched for months.