By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Naira extended its loss against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, April 29 by 5.9 per cent or N79.88 to quote at N1,419.11/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,399.23/$1.
The recent free-fall of the local currency is creating anxiety among foreign exchange (FX) traders and customers after being touted as one of the best-performing currencies earlier this month.
But it maintained stability against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market yesterday at N1,453.07/£1 and N1,247.03/€1, respectively.
Data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the forex turnover for the trading session declined significantly by 52.2 per cent or $161.18 million to $147.83 million from the $309.01 million executed last Friday.
The Naira is now approaching recent drop zones after appreciating to a level where it was briefly touted as the best-performing currency globally bolstered by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) foreign exchange reforms and strategic economic policies.
In the parallel market, the local currency maintained stability against the Dollar on Monday at N1,400/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a fall yesterday, with Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciating by 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.1422, followed by Litecoin (LTC), which declined by 1.3 per cent to quote at $82.99.
In addition, Solana (SOL) recorded a 1.2 per cent slump to finish at $135.01, Ethereum (ETH) lost 1.1 per cent to settle at $3,167.34, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.454.
On the flip side, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 1.4 per cent to $63,320.28, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.3 per cent to trade at $0.5144, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.8 per cent to sell at $599.36, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
Dipo Olowookere