More Trouble for FX Speculators as Dollar Falls to N430 at BDC Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira appreciated on the US Dollar at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday to its highest level since April as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to resume weekly forex sales.

This development has continued to rattle forex speculators in the country, who had taken control of the market in the past weeks, dictating the value of the Dollar against the local currency.

At the Abuja BDC market, the Nigerian currency appreciated by N44 to close at N430/$1 in contrast to the previous session’s N474/$1, while against the Pound Sterling, it gained N7 to sell for N610/£1 versus N617/£1 on Monday and appreciated by N30 against the Euro to quote at N530/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N560/€1.

At the Lagos segment, the local currency gained N23.50 to sell for N438.50/$1 in contrast to the previous rate of N462/$1. Against the Pound, it appreciated by N20 to trade at N595/£1 versus N615/£1 it traded on Monday and closed flat on the Euro at N553/€1.

In Port Harcourt, the domestic currency gained N32 against the Dollar to N440/$1 from N472/$1 and appreciated by N12 on the Pound to N593/£1 from N605/£1 and gained N12 on the Euro to sell at N533 /€1 versus N545/€1.

At the Kano BDC market, the local currency closed flat against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N463/$1, N610/£1 and N540/€1 respectively.

At the black market on Tuesday, the local currency further appreciated by N15 against the American currency, trading at N440/$1 compared with N465/$1 of Monday.

On the Pound, the Naira gained N15 to close at N590/£1 versus N605/£1 and appreciated by N3 against the Euro to settle at N542/€1 versus N545/€1.

Across other segments, the Naira dropped 33 kobo or 0.09 per cent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment to close at N386/$1 in contrast to N385.67/$1 a day before.

At the close of the session, investors exchanged a total of $58.46 million compared to the previous session’s $14.37 million, indicating a day on day rise of 75.4 per cent or $44.09 million.

However, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate at the interbank window remained at N379/$1 on Tuesday.