By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated at the Investors and Exporters segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 as President Muhammadu Buhari officially presented the 2020 National Budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
Business Post reports that the local currency dropped 8 Kobo or 0.02 percent against the US Dollar at the market segment during the session to trade at N362.45 against the American currency from N362.37 per Dollar which it traded on Monday.
It was keenly noticed that the depreciation occurred as pressure mounted on the domestic currency at the day. This was reflected in the significant 129 percent increase in the value of transactions recorded at the investors window yesterday.
Data obtained from the FMDQ by Business Post showed that the market turnover on Tuesday was $465.36 million as against the $203.23 million worth of transactions recorded on Monday. This represents an increase of $262.14 million.
A look at the Naira’s performance at another segment of the forex market on Tuesday, the parallel market, showed that the domestic currency closed flat against major listed currencies – the US Dollar, the British Pound Sterling, and the Euro. The local currency was exchanged at their previous prices against these foreign currencies.
A breakdown showed that the Naira was traded against the Dollar at N360/$1 at the black market, it was exchanged at N450/£1 at the same market window as the Pound faces decline following Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal which was dealt a huge blow. When paired with the Euro, the domestic currency remained unchanged at N390/€1.
Also, at the Interbank segment, where the Naira trades at the official price of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the local currency saw neither growth nor decline as it remained flat on Tuesday at N307.00/$1.
Dipo Olowookere