Naira Depreciates to N1,540/$1 at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira witnessed a depreciation of 0.07 per cent or N1.10 against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, December 24.

Data showed that the exchange rate of the local currency to its American counterpart closed on Christmas Eve at N1,540.65/$1, in contrast to the N1,539.55/$1 it was traded on Monday.

Similarly, the domestic currency weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N7.44 to sell for N1,954.07/£1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,946.63/£1 and against the Euro, it lost N3.16 to settle at N1,614.89/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,611.73/€1.

Market analysts noted that the access of Bureaux de Change (BDCs) to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform has continued to keep a lid on the rates.

Also, increased December activity through the influx of tourists has helped strengthen the demand for the local currency.

In the black market on Tuesday, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback by N5 to sell at N1,650/$1 compared with the N1,655/$1 it was transacted a day earlier.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market experienced a Santa rally during the trading session, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising by 4.1 per cent to quote at $98,152.89, and Dogecoin (DOGE) growing by 3.4 per cent to sell at $0.3327.

Further, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.1 per cent to trade at $198.50, Ethereum (ETH) improved its value by 2.8 per cent to close at $3,498.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 2.2 per cent to settle at $703.87, Cardano (ADA) rose by 2.1 per cent to finish at $0.9208, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 1.8 per cent to end the day at $2.29, and Litecoin (LTC) recorded a 1.7 per cent rise to trade at $108.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.