1 USD now selling for NGN192 at Amazon

The last time I bought something at Amazon.com with my Naira card was in December and this was sometime after the Naira devaluation decision by the CBN governor. Then, the exchange rate used for my transaction at Amazon was at NGN187 to 1 USD. In May of that same year, I bought things at N172 for 1 USD but the price has kept increasing as at this January.

When one choose to buy things now on Amazon using a Naira Visa or Mastercard, the exchange rate will be above N190 per USD and so a $100 gift card I tried buying is being sold for N19,200 to me. Should I buy? Will the USD go down? Will the Naira increase value? Will the Naira keep falling? Only time will tell but based on economic predictions, the Nigerian Naira is set to keep falling given that it was priced at N187 to a dollar as at December in the black market.

In Nigeria, December is the best month for buying the US dollar because it's the month during which the value of the USD falls lowest as there is more supply of the currency in the market. What happened in December 2014 that made the USD gain value was a bit out of the ordinary and it was because of the CBN intervention to devalue the Naira. Many thought it would go higher but market forces kept it a bit under N190 but this only proves that it will go higher by the time we enter Q1 2015.

Will the US dollar reach N200 before the first half of 2015? Well it is possible given that falling price of oil and the falling level of oil exports from the country. Besides, the CBN'S decision to devalue the Naira and the growing strength of the US economy are all helping reduce the value of the Naira relative to that of the USD.

If you normally buy things on Amazon using a Naira card, you can get to know the exchange rate used for you by choosing to pay entirely with the Naira card. I tried buying a $100 email gift card and my total bill read NGN 19,200. Imagine that!