Shaken hard by the fall in oil prices and the coronavirus, the Nigerian currency (naira) is  sinking into depression.

The statistics are revealing, since  the virus first appeared in China late last year, the naira has weakened 1.3% in the spot market to 366.63 to the US dollar. The currency's decline accelerated in February, when reserves fell more than 4.5 percent to $36.1 billion.

Nigeria's stock index (Lagos Stock Exchange) fell 1.8% on Thursday, bringing its decline over the past five days to more than 12%. This brought the gauge to levels last observed in early 2016.

These signals  have not left indifferent, some observers, supporting  an imminent devaluation of the naira. Analysts    are formal, the Nigerian central bank will not be able to maintain the value of the naira for a long time as the fall in oil prices depletes foreign exchange reserves. When asked  about this question, the monetary  authorities did not want to answer.

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves are running out

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has used nearly a quarter  of the country's  reserves since last June  to maintain the stability of the naira. The head of the central bank has also restricted importers' access to hard currency and stepped up the sale of high-yield public debt known as OMO bills.

The bank could opt for more capital controls  to support  the naira. Moreover, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had advocated for a monetary stability plan to revive local industries.

The governor  had  promised to keep the naira stable, saying in late November that the decline in reserves was not a matter of concern. "We will not hesitate to deploy additional measures to protect the Nigerian economy from  exogenous shocks," he said on Wednesday at a conference in Abuja.

Oil futures fell more than 30% in New York and London on Monday (March 9th), representing the biggest decline since the Gulf War in 1991, before regaining  ground.
It should be noted that crude oil sales account for about half of Nigeria's government revenue and 90% of the country's exports.