Naira Falls by N1.50 to N389.50/$1 at I&E

By Adedapo Adesanya

The week rounded off with the Naira further facing headwinds against the US Dollar as it depreciated by N1.50 or 0.39 per cent to close at N389.50/$1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange market on Friday, July 24.

At the previous session, the local currency had closed at 388/$1.

At the trading day, there was an increase in the demand for forex at the investors’ window by 246.3 per cent or $31.06 million to $43.67 million from $12.61 million on Thursday.

At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the forex market, the domestic currency equally came under pressure against the greenback.

On Friday, in the city of Lagos, the Naira was exchanged against the Dollar at N472.50/$1 after losing N1.50 from the previous day’s closing rate of N471/$1. Against the Pound, the local currency lost N1 to N582/£1 from N581/£1, but closed flat on the Euro at N530/€1.

In Port Harcourt, the Nigerian currency depreciated against its US counterpart by N1 to quote at N471.50/$1 versus the previous rate of N470.50/$1. Against the Pound, the Naira dropped N3 to close at N580/£1 compared with Thursday’s N577/£1 and also dropped N1 against the Euro to close at N531/€1 as against N530/€1 on Thursday.

However, at the Abuja BDC market, the local currency closed flat against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N472/$1, N580/£1 and N530/€1 respectively.

A similar scenario played out at the Kano market, where the Nigerian currency retained previously traded rates against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N471/$1, N570/£1; and N520/€1 respectively.

Also, at the interbank segment of the market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N381/$1 at the close of transactions yesterday.

At the parallel market, the same pattern was followed as the domestic currency closed flat against the Dollar, Pounds and Euro at N472/$1, N582/£1 and N530/€1 respectively.