Naira Value Now N1,654/$1 at NAFEM, N1,720/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira has weakened further against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 0.06 per cent or N1.07.

At the official market on Wednesday, October 23, the local currency was exchanged for the US Dollar at N1,654.09/$1 compared with the N1,653.02/$1 it was traded on Tuesday.

Also, the domestic currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling at NAFEM at midweek by N9.86 to sell for N2,147.22/£1 versus the preceding day’s N2,137.36/£1 and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency lost N9.67 to finish at N1,789.93/€1 versus N1,780.26/€1.

The FX market has remained volatile recently as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not been able to tackle high seasonal demand, which is heightening as the year nears its final two months.

It had made some efforts to bring some stability to the market through a series of auctions held for official dealers and Bureau de Change (BDCs), but the apex bank has not been able to sustain this with no visible injection in weeks.

Yesterday, the value of forex transactions honoured stood at $136.68 million compared with the $176.15 million carried out a day earlier, indicating a decline of 22.4 per cent or $39.47 million, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.

However, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to settle at N1,720/$1 compared with the N1,725/$1 it was transacted in the preceding trading session.

Cryptocurrencies were mixed over the last 24 hours as the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book survey of economic conditions across the US released Wednesday portrayed a subdued outlook, bolstering the case for further rate reductions in the coming months.

The latest edition had nine out of 12 regional banks reporting stagnant or slightly weak economic activity since early September, with Solana (SOL) rising by 4.8 per cent to $172.97.

Further, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $69.98, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.8 per cent to $591.34, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.3 per cent to $67,104.26, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $0.5314.

On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 4.9 per cent to $0.3494, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 2.4 per cent to $2,547.50, and Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 0.7 per cent to $0.1387, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.