The naira has continued to depreciate as the exchange rate between the local currency and the US dollar reached N785/$1 at the parallel market on Friday
This is according to information on Aboki Forex, a website that publishes foreign exchange rates at the black market in Nigeria.
The current heavy fall of the naira followed the announcement of CBN’s plan to redesign the N200, N500, and N100 notes to phase out the current notes.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Wednesday, 26 October announced the apex bank’s monetary policy decision to change the naira notes by December 15.
According to the CBN governor, the decision was to curb counterfeiting of the notes and to reign in over N2.7 trillion that are outside the banks' vaults.
The action is also expected to catch corrupt politicians and other criminals who stashed money in their homes, or at least render the moneys useless, if they fail to return them to the banks.
The naira which was trading for N760/$1 on Wednesday morning, raced to N770/$1 in the evening of same day following the CBN announcement to change the naira notes
Expectedly, the dollar has since then continued to rise astronomically as politicians and others who stashed naira notes besiege BDC operators to convert their stash to dollars before the deadline. The apex bank has given Nigerians six weeks to return the old notes to deposits money banks and get the new notes.