Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
At the close of the first week of the easing of lockdown on Friday, the Naira depreciated as much as N8 against the American Dollar at the black market segment.
The domestic currency consequently wrapped the week at N445/$1 compared with the N437/$1 it traded at the segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market.
At the same segment, the local currency closed flat against the Pound at N530/£1, while against the Euro, it depreciated by N10 to close at N450/€1 in contrast to N440/€1 it exchanged at the previous session.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the market on Friday, the domestic currency depreciated by 0.23 percent or 87 kobo to close at N387.25/$1 versus N386.38/$1 it was sold on Thursday.
The depreciation came despite a decline in the value of transactions carried out at the segment. Trades valued at $70.40 million were executed during the session in contrast to $102.28 million exchanged at the previous session. This indicated a decline by 31 percent or $31.9 million.
At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment, the Nigerian currency lost N3 against the American currency to sell at N443/$1 compared with N440/$1 it previously traded. In addition, the local currency depreciated by N2 against the British currency to N532/£1 from N530/£1, while against the Euro, it lost N5 to quote at N465/€1 compared with N460/$1 it traded previously.
At the Port Harcourt market, the Naira closed flat against the Dollar at N430/$1 and also against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at N515/£1 and N450/€1 respectively.
In Kano, the local currency exchange rate also closed flat against the Dollar at N459/$1. It was a similar situation against the Pound and Euro at N498/£1 and N440/€1 respectively.
At the Abuja BDC market, the Naira closed the day’s session flat against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N457/$1, N498/£1 and N440/€1 respectively.
At the official interbank window of the forex market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold the Dollar at N361.
