By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a bad trading day for the Nigerian Naira at both the interbank and Investors and Exporters (I&E) segments of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Tuesday, November 26, 2019.
The local currency depreciated against the United States Dollar at the two segments of the market on a day the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, allayed fears of Nigerians on the declining external reserves of the country.
The reserves recently dropped below $40 billion and there have been worries that the country might soon go into recession like it did in 2016 in the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari.
But yesterday, the apex bank chief, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, said Nigerians should not raise concerns on the declining reserves, assuring them that “there was no cause for alarm.”
Business Post reports that, however, at the close of transactions on Tuesday, the Naira suffered a marginal loss against the greenback at the official CBN exchange window. The local currency depreciated by 5 Kobo or 0.02 percent to close at N307 per Dollar after trading at N306.95/$1 since last Monday.
In the same vein, the domestic currency declined against the American currency by 3 Kobo or 0.01 percent at the investors yesterday to trade at N362.61/$1. The local currency had appreciated to N362.58 per dollar at the same window on Monday before it fell yesterday.
According to data obtained from FMDQ, the market turnover yesterday at the I&E segment increased by 65 percent or $69.45 million to $176.28 million from the $106.83 million recorded at the previous session.
At another segment of the market on Tuesday, the parallel market to be precise, the Naira closed flat against at the greenback N360/$1, the same rate it had traded for a long time.
But when paired with the British Pound Sterling, the domestic currency appreciated by N1 to quote at N465/£1. The Nigerian currency had depreciated against the Pound Sterling to N466/£1 at Monday’s trading session.
However, the Naira lost N1 against the Euro at the black market yesterday, trading at N396/€1 in contrast to N395/€1 it was exchanged at the previous trading session.
Modupe Gbadeyanka