By Adedapo Adesanya
With plans to resume the weekly sale of forex to operators at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) underway, the Naira appreciated against the US Dollar on Friday.
The local currency, which had faced pressures in the past few weeks, was strengthened against the greenback yesterday at the key BDC locations across the country; Lagos, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt.
Market analysts have predicted a crash in rates at the segment as soon as the apex bank resume the forex sales because of the instructions it gave to operators at the window on the price limit.
Data from Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) yesterday indicated that in Lagos, the local currency gained 70 kobo on the Dollar on trade at N476.30/$1 compared with N477/$1 it sold at the previous session.
However, against the Pound, the local currency shed N1.50 to sell at N618.50/£1 compared to the previous rate of N617/£1 and closed flat on the Euro to settle at N552/€1.
In Abuja, the local currency appreciated against the US Dollar by N3 to close at N474/$1 versus N477/$1 of the preceding session, while against the Pound, it gained N3 to close at N617/£1 versus N620/£1 and depreciated by N5 on the Euro to trade at N560/€1 in contrast to the previous rate of N555/€1.
At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the domestic currency appreciated by N4 against the Dollar to sell for N472/$1 in contrast to the prior rate of N476/$1 and against the Pound, the Naira gained N7 to close at N612/£1 versus N617/£1 of the previous session, while it appreciated by N8 against the Euro to trade at N545/€1 versus N553/€1.
But at the Kano BDC market, the domestic currency maintained stability against the Dollar, Pound and Euro to finish at N477/$1, N608/£1 and N552/€1 respectively.
A look at the performance of the Nigerian currency against the greenback at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market on Friday indicated that it appreciated by 8 kobo or 0.02 per cent to close at N385.67/$1 compared with N385.75/$1 of the previous session.
During the trading day at the investors’ window, data showed that there was a drop in the demand for the greenback by $31.07 million or 72 per cent as the transaction turnover reduced to $12.09 million from the previous day’s $43.16 million.
At the interbank segment, the value of the Naira against the Dollar remained static at N379/$1 and at the parallel market, the local currency closed flat against the greenback at N477/$1. It further remained unchanged against the Pound and Euro at N615/£1 and N555/€1 respectively.
Modupe Gbadeyanka