Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Naira weakened against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, March 28 by 0.7 per cent or N8.96 to sell at N1,309.39/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,300.43/$1.
According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the official market recorded a significant rise in the value of foreign exchange (FX) transactions ahead of a long Easter break.
During the trading day, the turnover stood at $857.78 million compared with the $416.10 million achieved in the previous day, representing a rise by $441.68 million or 107.7 per cent.
However, the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed flat against the local currency yesterday in the spot market at N1,790.98/£1 and N1,534.95/€1, respectively.
In the parallel market, the Naira appreciated against the US Dollar on Thursday by N20 to quote at N1,290/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing price of N1,310/$1.
The domestic currency has returned to post-devaluation level following some foreign exchange reforms by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) include the unification of exchange rate windows, liberalization of the FX market, clearance of FX backlog obligations for banks and airlines, implementation of a Price Verification System (PVS), imposition of limits on banks’ Net Open Position, removal of the daily cap of N2 billion on remunerable Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), and overhaul of the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment.
Others include an active willing buyer-willing seller market, elimination of margin limits for International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) remittances, introduction of a two-way quote system, and comprehensive reforms within the BDC segment to bolster stability, transparency, supply, and price discovery in the NAFEM.
As for digital currency market, there was a large positive movement across the benchmarked tokens tracked by Business Post, with Dogecoin (DOGE) jumping by 8.2 per cent to $0.217, amid rumours that the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, may plan to integrate it in the app’s payment plans.
Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.4 per cent to $608.16, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 0.4 per cent to $70,467.37, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 0.3 per cent to close at $3,572.58, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 0.2 per cent rise to trade at $186.69.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 0.8 per cent to quote at $95.00, Ripple (XRP) slid by 0.4 per cent during the session to finish at $0.6186, and Cardano (ADA) saw its value depreciate by 0.1 per cent to end at $0.6465, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
