Naira Appreciates to N385.94/$ at I&E

By Adedapo Adesanya

The local currency appreciated by 56 kobo or 0.14 percent against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, May 22, closing at N385.94/$1 in contrast to N386.50/$1 it ended at the segment on Thursday.

This strengthening of the domestic currency at the I&E window happened despite the higher demand for the greenback at the market segment yesterday.

At the close of the session, investors exchanged a total of $29.38 million, more than the previous session’s $22.50 million by 30.6 percent or $6.88 million.

Business Post reports that at the interbank segment of the forex market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold the Dollar to commercial banks on Friday at the same official Naira/Dollar exchange rate of N361.

At the parallel market, forex sellers maintained the Naira/Dollar exchange rate at N460/$1. The local currency further traded flat against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro at the black market yesterday at N545/£1 and N470/€1 respectively.

However, at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the market, the Naira appreciated by N2 against the Dollar in Lagos to close at N458/$1 compared with N460/$1 it traded previously. However, it depreciated by N5 against the British currency to N550/£1 from N545/£1, and also fell by N10 against the Euro to N480/€1 from N470/€1.

In the Port Harcourt, the local currency was weakened against the US Dollar by N3 to N460/$1 from N457/$1. The Naira lost N5 against the Pound to N548/£1 from N543/£1, and lost N8 against the Euro to sell at N475/€1 compared with N467/€1 it exchanged previously.

The Naira/USD exchange rate at the Abuja BDC market remained unchanged at N461/$1 on Friday. However, the Nigerian currency depreciated by N13 on the Pound to N560/£1 from N547/£1, while against the Euro, it fell by N5 to N490/€1 from N485/€1.

But at the Kano BDC market, the local currency retained it previous rates against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N459/$1, N560/£1, and N480/€1 respectively.