Local Currency Gains 0.08% Against Dollar at I&E Midweek

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira closed the last trading day of the month of March 2021 on a positive note as it gained 33 kobo or 0.08 per cent against the Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&) window.

At the segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Wednesday, the local currency was traded at N408.67/$1 compared to N409/$1 it was transacted on Tuesday.

This appreciation of the Nigerian currency against its American counterpart was helped by the availability of FX supply to meet the demand of customers at the market window.

The investors’ segment, which has witnessed low turnover since 2020, recorded transactions worth $35.37 million, 26.2 per cent or $12.56 million lower than the $47.93 million achieved at the preceding session.

Before 2020, the average value of trades at the segment was between $150 million to $200 million but since the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the turnover had reduced.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, recently disclosed that since January 2021, the apex bank has not supplied the market with regular FX sales.

Meanwhile, at the black market yesterday, the domestic currency traded flat against the greenback N486/$1 but appreciated against the Pound Sterling and Euro.

Against the British currency, the Naira appreciated by N2 to sell at N676/£1 compared to N678/£1, while against the Euro, it also appreciated by N2 to quote at N575/€1 in contrast to the previous rate of N577/€1.

At the interbank, the Nigerian currency maintained its stability against the United States Dollar at the midweek session to close at N379/$1.

A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that the Tron (TRX) jumped 42.8 per cent to trade at N46.99, leading the three gainers at the space on Wednesday.

It was joined by Ethereum (ETH), which appreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at N939,601.99; and the Dash (DASH), which grew by 0.7 per cent to sell at N105,500.

The Bitcoin (BTC) was not lucky yesterday as its value dropped 1.1 per cent to sell at N28,772,993.99; the Ripple (XRP) fell by 2.3 per cent to trade at N276.79; the Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.2 per cent to trade at N94,660.02; while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) lost 0.8 per cent to sell at N495.52.