US Dollar touches N200 at the black market

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday January 24, 2015 at 12:32:20:

For those who deal in foreign currencies and for those who like buying foreign made goods(probably all of us), you now have to spend more Naira for those things as the US dollars has kept on increasing in value against the Nigerian Naira.

Personally, I even tried to buy something on Amazon recently using a Naira Mastercard and noticed that the exchange rate was above N200. Anyway, since I heard that CBN has stabilized it a bit and that the price has gone below N200, I thought I should just wait before buying anything in US dollars for now.

For those who can, it's better to have a foreign bank account or foreign currency account at least to save the monetary value of your money. For those who still keep millions in bank accounts, your money's value will be better safe if it was invested in other assets that hardly lose value like real estate or gold.

I think that for the fact that it has touched N200 this January, that may very well be the value by the time we reach April 2015. So, while the Naira might be good for doing business in Nigeria and for paying bills to get services locally, it's probably safer to diversify your capital rather than letting it lie waste or keep losing value in a savings bank.

I have to say that although Nigerian banks tend to offer a good interest rate on domiciliary accounts, it is not enough to protect your funds from the value it loses against foreign currencies like the US dollar. In the long term, investors would have to ask "how safe really is the Nigerian Naira?".