Naira Crashes to N1,422/$1 at NAFEX, Remains N1,485/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar  in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, January 22 by N1.38 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,422.07/$1, in contrast to the N1,420.69/$1 it ended on Wednesday.

This was due to FX demand pressure on the local currency in the official currency market in Nigeria.

However, the domestic currency got a reprieve against the Pound Sterling as it recorded a marginal gain of 28 Kobo to sell for N1,908.56/£1 compared to midweek’s value of N1,908.84/£1 and chalked up 22 Kobo on the Euro to quote at N1,665.26/€1 versus the previous day’s N1,665.48/€1.

The Nigerian currency, at the GTBank FX desk, N1 against the Dollar yesterday to settle at N1,430/$1 compared with the N1,429/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,485/$1.

The Naira continued to trade within range despite the fluctuations as consistent foreign exchange supply and the sustained emphasis on transparency in pricing by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued to offer backing.

The bank’s medium-term outlook, which anticipates external reserves rising beyond the $50 billion mark later in the year, has also helped to reinforce confidence among investors and corporates.

Unlike earlier January periods marked by sharp volatility, the current environment has been defined by measured trading and limited speculative pressure, while FX inflows from exporters, non-bank corporate, individual, and other sources continue to flow easily.

Meanwhile, there was renewed weakness across crypto markets, with liquidation activity picking up and risk appetite fading across benchmarked tokens.

In the last 24 hours, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 2.0 per cent to sell at $1.91, Ethereum (ETH) lost 1.5 per cent to quote at $2,969.33, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 0.9 per cent to $0.3618, Dogecoin (DOGE) weakened by 0.9 per cent to $0.1256, Solana (SOL) dropped 0.7 per cent to $128.93, and Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.5 per cent to $89,644.20.

However, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 0.9 per cent to trade at $69.01, and Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.2 per cent to $891.41, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.