FX Supply Crunch Weakens Naira to N415.10/$1 at I&E

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira succumbed to a high demand pressure at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, October 13 as it depreciated against the United States Dollar.

Business Post reports that during the trading session, the Nigerian currency lost 80 kobo or 0.19 per cent against the greenback to close at N415.10/$1 in contrast to N414.30/$1 it traded at the specialised window on Tuesday.

FX supply crunch at the market segment contributed to the downfall of the local currency yesterday and according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, transactions worth $306.77 million were recorded as against the $153.39 million achieved at the preceding session, indicating a surge of $153.38 million or 99.9 per cent.

Despite the rising in the price of crude oil and the recent gradual increase in the nation’s external reserves, the Naira has struggled to grow stronger at the forex market as a result of the FX policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which many observers said causing speculations.

At the interbank segment of the market yesterday, the Nigerian currency further closed flat against the American Dollar at N410.87/$1.

Meanwhile, at the digital currency market, eight of the 10 tokens monitored by this newspaper closed positive, with the most popular of the cryptos, Bitcoin (BTC), recording a 3.9 per cent appreciation to sell at N32,380,237.89.

Litecoin (LTC) gained 5.9 per cent to trade at N101,972.04, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 4.9 per cent to sell at N272,233.09, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 2.2 per cent to quote at N138.71, while Ripple (XRP) climbed higher by 1.7 per cent to N630.00.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to trade at N2,019,947.81, Cardano (ADA) added 0.3 per cent to its value to sell at N1,282.77, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) moved up by 0.2 per cent to sell for N570.

On the flip side, Tron (TRX) recorded a 2.8 per cent drop to trade at N53.55, while Dash (DASH) slid by 0.2 per cent to sell for N102,005.02.