Naira Fall 0.24% to N1,341/$1 at Official FX Window

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated further against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, February 19, by N3.24 or 0.24 per cent to N1,341.35/$1 from the N1,338.11/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

However, it improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N11.16 to sell for N1,805.86/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,817.02/£1, and gained N7.83 against the Euro to close at N1,577.29/€1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,585.12/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira lost N2 against the greenback to settle at N1,349/$1 compared with the N1,347/$1 it was exchanged at midweek, and at the black market, the exchange rate remained unchanged at N1,370/$1.

The performance of the domestic currency in the spot market was weak yesterday amid prevailing dynamics of supply and demand, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) maintains its efforts to stabilise the foreign exchange market. The exchange rate remained within the expected range, lifted by strong forex inflows and central bank dollar sales to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained bearish, as there was continued caution in coins amid shaky interest in the digital assets.

On the policy front, there were tentative signs of progress on the digital asset market structure bill. The White House hosted talks between crypto industry representatives and bankers, which yielded incremental movement, though no compromise has yet emerged.

Ripple (XRP) declined by 1.7 per cent to $1.39, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.3 per cent to $52.46, Cardano (ADA) dropped 0.8 per cent to trade at $0.2715, Dogecoin (DOGE) retreated by 0.7 per cent to $0.0978, and Ethereum (ETH) contracted by 0.2 per cent to $1,943.30.

On the flip side, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $82.12, Bitcoin improved its value by 0.7 per cent to $66,854.86, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $605.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.