Apprehension as Naira Weakens Further to N1,308/$1 at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

Apprehension increased on Wednesday in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) as the Naira continued to erase some of its gains after it fell further by 0.6 per cent or N8.7 against the US Dollar to exchange at N1,308.52/$1 versus the preceding day’s value of N1,300.15/$1.

Also, the Naira suffered a loss against the Pound Sterling, N47.93, in the official market at midweek to sell at N1,590.25/£1 compared with Tuesday’s price of N1,542.32/£1, and against the Euro, it weakened by N34.88 to trade at N1,367.23/€1 versus the N1,332.35/€1 it closed a day earlier.

The loss was recorded amid efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to inflate the supply of FX in the system, with the turnover for the session growing by 47.8 per cent or $63.89 million to $197.54 million from the $133.65 million published in the last trading session.

The market has deteriorated for the fourth straight day despite recent policy moves by the CBN to prop up the ecosystem. The latest move came as the central bank offered to sell Dollars to 1,588 accredited Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the country at a rate of N1,021/$1, according to a statement on its website.

In the black market, the local currency declined on Wednesday against the Dollar by N25 to trade at N1,300/$1 compared with Tuesday’s closing value of N1,275/$1.

The cryptocurrency market recorded a largely weak outcome as Bitcoin’s (BTC) price dipped to $64000 amid a major sell-off and negative funding rate post-halving, facing volatility with $9.4 billion in crypto options expiring soon.

As BTC struggles to maintain its upward momentum, the cryptocurrency market is witnessing a significant sell-off, with over 40 million long positions being liquidated. This massive sell-off has increased anxiety among investors and analysts, leading to a deeper look into the reasons for Bitcoin’s current price drop. By press time, the price of BTC was trading at $64,301.87, a decrease of 3.5 per cent.

The biggest loser was Solana (SOL) as it slumped by 6.5 per cent to trade at $147.86. Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 6.0 per cent to $0.1516, Cardano (ADA) decreased by 5.9 per cent to $0.4765, Ripple (XRP) dropped by 3.7 per cent to trade at $0.5277, Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 3.2 per cent to sell at $83.82 and the Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 2.7 per cent to $3,163.82.

However, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.4 per cent to trade at $148.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00, respectively.