Naira Appreciates to N1,499/$1 at Official Market After FX Supply Boost

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the official foreign exchange (FX) market, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM), on Tuesday, February 13, after hitting a new low the previous day.

Yesterday, the domestic currency gained 2.3 per cent or N35.32 on the greenback in the spot market to trade at N1,499.07/$1 compared with the N1,534.39/$1 it traded on Monday, which raised apprehension in the system, especially because the supply of forex was disrupted.

According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, FX supply on Tuesday improved, aiding the sale of more forex to customers during the trading session.

At the close of business, the turnover stood at $271.50 million versus the $89.61 million recorded in the preceding trading day, indicating a 202.9 per cent or $181.89 million increase.

In the official market yesterday, the exchange rate of the local currency to the British Pound Sterling and the Euro maintained stability at N1,912.53/£1, and N1,632.29/€1, respectively.

However, in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window, the Nigerian Naira suffered a loss of N34 against the United States Dollar on Tuesday to quote at N1,536/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,502/$1.

In the same vein, in the black market, the Naira depreciated against the Dollar during the session by N31 to settle at N1,532/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,501/$1.

As for the digital currency market, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.8 per cent to $49,601.11 on Tuesday after crossing $50,000 for the first time since 2021 a day earlier amid a dash in hopes that the US Federal Reserve will start to cut interest rates this year as inflation eases.

Litecoin (LTC) declined by 5.6 per cent to sell for $68.93, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.2 per cent to $0.5442, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.523, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 1.8 per cent to $0.0809, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.7 per cent to $2,634.23, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 1.3 per cent to $324.54, and Solana (SOL) depleted by 0.9 per cent to $111.91, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.