Naira Falls as CBN Moves to Save FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated against the Dollar in the opening session of the week at the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) and the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segments of the foreign market on Monday, August 14.

The Naira lost N3.90 or 0.51 per cent against the greenback during the session to close at N744.51/$1 compared with last Friday’s value of N740.60/$1, as the value of forex trades decreased by 2.7 per cent or $4.38 million to $160.22 million from $164.60 million.

In the P2P market, the local currency fell against the US Dollar yesterday by N14 to sell at N943.00/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N929.00/$1.

In the black market, the Nigerian currency weakened against its American counterpart on Monday by N5 to quote at N945/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s rate of N940/$1.

However, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling at the official market yesterday by N2.53 to finish at N948.82/£1 versus last Friday’s N951.35/£1 and against the Euro, it improved by N3.78 to sell at N816.99/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s N820.77/€1.

To staunch the free fall of the Naira, the acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Folashodun Shonubi, said the apex bank was actively working to improve liquidity and stability in the market, including addressing issues in the parallel market.

Mr Shonubi, addressing journalists after visiting President Bola Tinubu on Monday, stressed that the fluctuations in the parallel market are not solely driven by economic factors but also by speculative demand.

While he did not disclose specific details, he warned speculators that the CBN’s upcoming initiatives could potentially lead to significant losses for them.

As for the digital currency, tokens witnessed considerable gains, with Bitcoin (BTC) jumping 0.5 per cent to sell at $29,405.90 and Ethereum (ETH) expanding by 0.4 per cent to $1,843.76.

Further, Solana (SOL) rose by 3.1 per cent to $25.01, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.6328, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.2907, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 0.4 per cent to $82.07, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 0.2 per cent to $0.0748, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.1 per cent to $240.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.