By Adedapo Adesanya
The panic witnessed in recent days at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market seems to have eased as the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in Lagos and Abuja on Wednesday.
The local currency had been growing stronger against the US currency since Monday, acting on the news that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was resuming the sales of forex to operators from next Monday. This caused panic among speculators.
At the BDC window yesterday, according to data from the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the domestic currency lost N1.50 in Lagos to sell at N440/$1 compared with N438.50/$1 it sold at the previous session.
However, against the Pound, the local currency gained N10 to sell at N585/£1 compared with the previous rate of N595/£1 and closed flat on the Euro at N543/€1.
In Abuja, the local currency exchange rate depreciated by N5 against the US Dollar to close at N435/$1 versus N430/$1 of Tuesday while against the Pound, it gained N3 to close at N607/£1 in contrast to N610/£1 of the prior day and lost N10 on the Euro to trade at N540/€1 versus N530/€1.
However, at the Port Harcourt market, the domestic currency appreciated against the Dollar by N5 to quote at N435/$1 versus the previous rate of N440/$1. Against the Pound, the Naira remained flat at N593/£1 but gained N33 on the Euro to trade at N500/€1 compared with N533/€1 of Tuesday.
In Kano, data from ABCON showed that the exchange rate of the Nigerian currency against the three major foreign currencies; Dollar, Pound and Euro, remained unchanged at N463/$1, N610/£ and N540/€1 respectively.
At the parallel market on Wednesday, the local currency maintained stability against the American currency, closing at N440/$1 but gained N10 against the Pound to sell for N580/£1 versus N590/£1 and gained N17 on the Euro to close at N525/€1 versus N542/€1.
At the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market, the Naira sustained its stability against the Dollar at the midweek session at N379/$1.
It was the same scene at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, where the local currency remained unchanged against the US Dollar at N386/$1.
According to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange, this followed the $20 million or 34.2 per cent drop in the total turnover recorded for the day.
It was observed that transactions worth $38.46 million were carried out during the session compared with the $58.46 million executed on Tuesday.
