Again, Naira Falls at I&E, Closes Flat at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira extended its stay in the danger zone at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Thursday.

At the session, the Nigerian currency further depreciated against the US Dollar by 17 kobo to close at N411.67/$1 in contrast to N411.50/$1 it finished on Wednesday.

The domestic currency performed badly yesterday despite a calm n FX demand pressure as data obtained by Business Post showed that transactions worth $109.47 million were made at the I&E window versus the $192.75 million recorded the preceding session, indicating a decline of 43.2 per cent or $83.28 million.

But at the black market, where customers source for FX due to their inability to access it from the regulated segment due to restrictions put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the local currency traded flat against the greenback at N500/$1.

Equally, against the Pound Sterling, the Nigerian Naira closed flat N710/£1 and lost N3 against the Euro to sell for N595/€1 compared to N592/€1 it traded at the previous session.

At the interbank segment of the market, the Naira marginally appreciated against the US Dollar by one kobo to trade at N410.17/$1 in contrast to N410.18/$1 it was quoted at the prior trading session.

Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market, after coming under pressure for a few days, the Bitcoin (BTC) heaved a sigh of relief as it appreciated by 8.0 per cent to trade at N17,714,745.07.

Ripple (XRP) improved on Thursday by 2.2 per cent to quote at N346.99, Tron (TRX) jumped by 7.3 per cent to sell for N33.96, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 1.7 per cent to trade at N69,999.00.

However, the Ethereum (ETH) was not too lucky yesterday as it recorded a 0.5 per cent depreciation to sell at N1,035,000.00. Dash (DASH) went down by 10.9 per cent to trade at N65,060.01, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) depreciated by 1.7 per cent to sell for N504.31.