Naira Appreciates at NAFEM as CBN Supplies FX

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira halted its recent weakening cycle against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, September 6.

Business Post reports that the Nigerian currency gained N100.09 or 2.8 per cent on the greenback in the official market yesterday to close the final session of the week at N1,593.32/$1 compared with the N1,693.41/$1 it was transacted in the preceding session.

The appreciation coincided with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) injecting fresh liquidity into the market, for the first time in three weeks. The apex bank approved the sale of $20,000 each to eligible Bureau De Change operators at the rate of N1,580/$1.

The apex bank noted that All BDCs are allowed to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1 per cent above the purchase rate.

According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, a turnover of $245.17 million was recorded compared to the $185.79 million recorded at the last session, representing a rise of $56.86 million or 61.5 per cent.

However, the local currency maintained its free-fall against the Pound Sterling at NAFEM during the trading day. It lost N9.24 to settle at N2,144.61/£1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N2,135.37/£1 and decreased by N5.17 against the Euro to sell for N1,804.99/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,799.82/€1.

As for the parallel market, the local currency further dwindled against the US Dollar yesterday by N5 to trade at N1,655/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,650/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, the US jobs report which came in weaker than expected led to volatile trading, sending Bitcoin (BTC) to its lowest in a month after a 2.4 per cent loss to close at $54,357.34. 

Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 3.3 per cent to sell at $0.0944, Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 2.1 per cent to $2,563.31, Litecoin (LTC) slid by 2.0 per cent to $63.91, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 1.2 per cent to $496.25, Ripple (XRP) tumbled by 1.1 per cent to $0.5291, and Solana (SOL) declined by 0.7 per cent to $127.52.

But Cardano (ADA) rose by 1.1 per cent to $0.3226, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.