Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
A huge spike in the demand for foreign exchange (forex) at the market on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, put the Nigerian currency under immense pressure, causing it to depreciate at the close of transactions for the day.
This made the Naira, which had appreciated at the first trading session of this week at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, go down by 35 Kobo or 0.10 percent on Tuesday to close at N362.90/$1.
The domestic currency had traded on Monday (November 4) at N362.55/$1 at the same market window, but the high demand for greenback by investors, coupled with short supply of forex to meet demand, weakened the Naira yesterday at the close of business.
This was reflected in the market turnover harvested from FMDQ yesterday, which showed that transactions worth $416.48 million were recorded during the session in contrast to the previous day’s $24.99 million, indicating an increase by 1566.6 percent or 391.49 million.
However, at the other segments analysed by Business Post– the Interbank segment of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the parallel market, the Naira saw no changes against the Dollar.
The local currency was exchanged at N306.95 to a single American Dollar at the Interbank segment. This was after the Naira appreciated by 5 Kobo on the first trading day of the week.
Also, at the black market, the local currency traded flat against Dollar at N360/$1, just as it remained unchanged against the Euro at N400/€1 at the end of Tuesday’s session.
When compared with the British Pound Sterling, the Naira remained flat at N463 to £1. The British currency had gone stronger at the height of Brexit uncertainties, but with the tensions still unresolved despite agreements reached, Investors have shown faith therefore leading the currency to remain stable as seen in over seven days so far on the black market.
