By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities at the midweek of the foreign exchange (forex) market in Nigeria saw the Naira finishing weaker against the US Dollar at both the black market and the Bureau De Change (BDC) segments.
At the black market, Business Post gathered that the local currency closed at N465/$1 after losing N5 from the previous value of N460/$1.
But against the Pound, it appreciated by N5 to settle at N595/£1 versus N600/£1 of Tuesday and depreciated by N5 against the Euro to close at N540/€1 in contrast to N535/€1.
At the BDC window, the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the weekly FX sales has not helped the local currency as expected.
About $200 million has been released to members of the Association of the Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) to support the Naira but going by data of yesterday’s trading, the domestic currency lost N3 against the greenback on Wednesday in Lagos to sell for N463/$1 compared with the previous session’s rate of N469/$1.
However, the Nigerian currency gained N3 against its British counterpart to close at N595/£1 in contrast to the previously traded rate of N598/£1 while against the Euro, it lost N9 to N544/€1 from N535/€1.
At the Abuja BDC market, the local currency crumbled by N5 against the American currency to trade at N465/$1 as against N460/$1. On the Pound, the local currency fell by N7 to end the day at N610/£1 versus N603/£1 and declined by N9 on the Euro to quote at N545/€1 in contrast to N534/€1 it traded on Tuesday.
In Port Harcourt, the domestic currency fell by N4.50 against the Dollar to trade at N464.50/$1 compared with N460/$1 while it closed flat against the Pound at N595/£1 and depreciated by N10 on the Euro to N545/€1 from N535/€1.
At the Kano BDC market, the Naira lost N21 against the US Dollar to trade at N461/$1 versus N440/$1 and went down by N20 each on the Pound and the Euro to settle at N605/£1 versus N585/£1 and N535/€1 versus N515/€1 respectively.
A look at the interbank segment of the FX market yesterday showed that the Naira to Dollar exchange rate remained unchanged at N379/$1.
Despite an increase in demand for the greenback at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Wednesday, the Naira traded flat against the Dollar at N386/$1.
The turnover for the day at the market window was $282.23 million, $226.52 million or 406.6 per cent higher than the $55.71 million recorded on Tuesday.
Modupe Gbadeyanka