Naira Strengthens Against Dollar Ahead General Elections

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira went into the election weekend stronger as it appreciated against the United States Dollar in the parallel market, the Peer-2-Peer (P2P), and the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, February 24.

Nigerians will today, Saturday, February 25, elect who will take the mantle of leadership from President Muhammadu Buhari, whose administration has witnessed a difficult time for the local currency at the forex market.

Under his administration, the local currency has been devalued more than once and has been exchanged in the black market for almost N800 per Dollar.

At the black market yesterday, the Naira appreciated against the USD by N3 to quote at N763/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N765/$1.

Also, in Friday’s session, the P2P market witnessed the strengthening of the domestic currency by N1 against the greenback to quote at N769/$1 compared with the previous session’s rate of N770/$1.

In the same vein, in the I&E window, the local currency improved by 16 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the Dollar to close at N461.17/$1 compared with Thursday’s value of N461.33/$1.

This came as daily turnover rose by 20.9 per cent or N23.03 million to $133.30 million from the $110.27 million recorded a day earlier.

However, in the interbank segment, the Naira depreciated against the Pound Sterling by N2.66 to trade at N552.40/£1 versus N555.06/£1, and against the Euro, it gained N1.46 to finish at N487.55/€1 compared with Thursday’s N489.01/€1.

A look at the cryptocurrency market, the top two digital currencies finished in the red zone like the others as investors anticipate the release of the consumer sentiment figures from the United States. The report from the University of Michigan is expected to show an increase in confidence, despite current inflationary pressures.

Bitcoin (BTC) slumped 3.3 per cent to sell at $23,192.23, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.7 per cent to quote at $1,609.25, Cardano (ADA) shed 4.4 per cent to trade at $0.3674, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 4.0 per cent to settle at $0.0811, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.6 per cent to $23.14, Litecoin (LTC) dwindled by 3.2 per cent to $91.60, Ripple (XRP) dropped 3.2 per cent to $0.378, and Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 2.1 per cent to $303.03.

However, the  United States Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.