Naira Appreciates on Dollar as Banks Restrict Forex Outflows

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Peer-2-Peer (P2P), and the black market segments of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, January 10 amid moves by banks to halt the use of Naira cards for international transactions.

To frustrate the flight of limited forex from the country, many banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, and United Bank for Africa, have halted foreign payments through the Naira cards.

In the I&E market, which caters to largely regulated export activities, the value of the local currency improved against the greenback yesterday by 17 Kobo or 0.04 per cent to N461.50/$1 compared with Monday’s rate of N461.67/$1.

This came as the daily turnover of FX transactions at the market window increased by 149.6 per cent or $70.50 million to $117.63 million from the $47.13 million published a day earlier.

Also, the local currency strengthened against the American currency in the P2P segment of the forex market on Tuesday by N8 to close at N760/$1 versus N768/$1 of the previous session.

In the same vein, the domestic currency appreciated against the US Dollar during the session by N1 to sell at N741/$1 compared with the preceding session’s exchange rate of N742/$1.

However, in the interbank segment, the Naira lost against the Pound Sterling by 64 Kobo to trade at N549.03/£1 versus N548.39/£1 and against the Euro, it fell by N2.59 to close at N485.15/€1 versus N482.56/€1.

A look at the cryptocurrency market showed renewed interest in digital coins as Cardano (ADA) recorded a 1.7 per cent increase to sell at $0.3223.

Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 1.7 per cent to $277.06, Dogecoin (DOGE) notched a 1.7 per cent rise to sell at $0.0769, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 1.3 per cent to $17,438.16, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 1.3 per cent to $1,338.14, and Ripple (XRP) made a 2.2 per cent rise to trade at $0.3909.

On the flip side, Solana (SOL) recorded a 1.0 per cent loss to settle at $16.31, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 0.2 per cent to trade at $81.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) closed flat at $1.00.