Naira Strengthens to N1,539/$1 at NAFEM, Falls to N1,655/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a 0.14 per cent or N2.13 appreciation on the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 23 to close at N1,539.55/$1 compared with last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,541.68/$1.

But the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,929.77/£1 and N1,597.64/€1, respectively.

Business Post reports that the strengthening of the local currency against the greenback at the official market yesterday followed the recent changes made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), allowing Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to purchase FX from NAFEM.

The central bank said street forex traders could buy up to $25,000 weekly at the official rate on the condition that the profit margin should not exceed 1 per cent, amove the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) commended, confessing it will help the value of the local currency in the near term.

However, at the black market on Monday, the Naira weakened by N5 against the US Dollar to sell for N1,655/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s value of N1,650/$1.

A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that most of the tokens tracked by this newspaper ended in green, with Binance Coin (BNB) gaining 5.3 per cent to sell for $691.11 and Solana (SOL) growing by 5.2 per cent to $191.38.

Further, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 4.7 per cent to quote at $105.80, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 4.4 per cent to $3,406.64, Ripple (XRP) added 3.8 per cent to close at $2.25, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 3.7 per cent to $0.3216, and Cardano improved its value by 2.3 per cent to trade at $0.903.

However, Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated during the trading session by 0.6 per cent to settle at $94,122.17, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.