Economy
Naira Falls to N1,596/$1 at NAFEM Amid CBN’s Efforts to Boost FX Liquidity
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, July 19 despite plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to flood the market with sufficient foreign exchange (FX) in the coming weeks to boost liquidity in the market.
Yesterday, the domestic currency closed lower against the greenback by 1.92 per cent or N30.10 to close at N1,596.92/$1 compared with the previous session’s closing rate of N1,566.82/$1.
However, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N15.19 to wrap the day at N2,048.77/£1 versus the N2,063.96/£1 it exchanged a day earlier, and against the Euro, it improved its value by N7.32 to sell for N1,725.91/€1 versus N1,733.23/€1.
The value of FX trades at the spot market, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, went down slightly by 8.2 per cent or $22.47 million to $250.67 million from the $273.14 million reported on Thursday.
The central bank indicated plans to stabilise the market for the next couple of weeks, indicating a possible easing in the rates.
“Over the next few weeks, the CBN will continue to support various segments of the official markets with liquidity,” a statement on Friday said.
“In line with the above, the CBN on Thursday, July 18 and Friday, July 19, 2024, sold a total of $106.5 million to authorized dealer banks between N1,498.00/$1 and N1.530.00/$1.
In addition, it bought $9.5 million from four authorized dealer banks at rates between N1,510.00/$1 and N1,550.00/$1 on Friday, July 19, 2024, according to a statement signed by Mrs Omolara Omotunde Duke, the Director of CBN’s Financial Markets Department.
In the black market segment, the Naira gained N55 against the US Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,580/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,635/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a boom on Friday, with Ripple (XRP) up by 8.8 per cent to $0.5965, as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rescheduled the July 18 closed meeting to July 25.
While the meeting is closed to the public, investors expect the Ripple case, which has helped the market go up this week, to be a talking point.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 7.5 per cent to $0.1273, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 5.4 per cent to $169.34, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 4.9 per cent to $66,653.24, Cardano (ADA) grew by 4.7 per cent to $0.4401, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 4.1 per cent to $590.59, Litecoin (LTC) jumped by 4.0 per cent to $73.35, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 3.3 per cent to $3,493.60, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
