With barely 6 days to Christmas celebration, the Naira has crashed to an all time low of 490 per United States dollar at the parallel market, further complicating matters for traders at the foreign exchange market.

It was gathered that the local currency, which traded at N487 to a dollar on Friday, dropped five points on Monday afternoon to N490 as dollar scarcity worsened ahead of the festive season.

With this, the prices of goods and services have increased rapidly as Nigerians continued to patronise the market to shop for festive season.

The currency traders blamed the high demand for dollars during this festive season as the reason to the pressure facing the Naira.



Meanwhile, the local currency remained stable against the Pounds and Euro at the market trading at 605 and 510 to the dollar. At the Bureau De Change window, the naira closed at N399 to a dollar, CBN-controlled rate.

It also remained stable at the inter-bank market, trading at N305 to a dollar.