Naira Rated 11th Worst-performing Currency against US Dollar

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

Nigeria’s currency, the Naira has been rated  11th worst-performing currency in the world against the United States dollar.

According to the latest ranking by Hanke’s Currency Watchlist, the Cedi,  Ghana’s currency, is on the 13th position while the currency of war-torn Ukraine, Hyrvnia, is 14th, among the list of 19 currencies rated.

The rating which was as of September 2, 2022 also put the Venezuelan Boliver

on the number one spot as the worst- performing currency globally, while the

Zimbabwean RTGS Dollar is number two.

The Lebanese Pound, the Sudanese Pound and the Syrian Pound occupy the third, fourth and fifth spots repectively.

Also ranked are the Argentine Peso, Turkish Lira, Italian Rial, Sri Lankan Rupee and South Sudanese Pound as the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th worst-performing currencies in the world respectively

The data, which was compiled by Steven Hanke, a professor of Applied Economics at John Hopkins University, United States of America, indicated that as of September 2, 2022, the Nigerian currency shed 48.87 per cent  of its value against the United States dollar. compared to its value in January 2020.

Commenting on the depreciation of the Nigerian currency, Hanke expressed dismay on the handling of the naira by the Nigerian government.

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 value of the Nigerian currency has precicipitously continued to face serious depreciation, particularly following the decline in oil export which is the main foreign exchange earner.

A former Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation, Bode Agusto, had recently advised against pegging the naira to the United States’ dollar, saying it cannot sustainably address the exchange rate crisis.

He also stated that floating the Naira, which means allowing the forces of demand and supply to determine the rate at which the local currency exchanges for the dollar, is not advisable for the country.

Nigeria which is largely import-dependent is currently facing a dollar crunch.