By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed weaker again on Tuesday against the US Dollar at the parallel market as it lost N1 to close at N483/$1 compared to the previous rate of N482/$1.
This further affirmed predictions that the local currency may return to the lows recorded in recent weeks as the Naira also lost N5 against the Pound at the same market window yesterday to sell for N620/£1 versus the previous day’s N615/£1. However, it held its ground against the Euro at the session to close at N570/€1.
Recall that two weeks ago, the Naira had dropped to a low of N500/$1 as regulated channels could not meet their backlog of dollar demands.
However, with the quick Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions, the pressure eased. It has been observed that the festivities approaching and the usual rush for the greenback is already putting too much pressure on the domestic currency and if the apex bank is unable to ensure FX liquidity in the market, the Naira may be in for another trouble.
But at the close of transactions yesterday, the Naira traded flat against the Dollar at the interbank segment of the market at N379/$1.
It was a similar scenario at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window, where the value of the Nigerian currency against the US Dollar remained unchanged at N395/$1.
This was supported by the 16.1 per cent or $17.8 million decline in the turnover for the day to $92.43 million from the previous day’s $110.23 million.
At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment, the Naira also traded flat against the Dollar at N395/$1.
Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market on Tuesday, most of the tokens tracked by Business Post on the Quidax platform turned bearish.
The Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 2.6 per cent to sell at N8,957,709.90, the Dash (DASH) lost by 4.9 per cent to sell at N46,871.31, the Ethereum (ETH) went down by 6.3 per cent to trade at N267,190.99, while the Litecoin lost 4.4 per cent to quote at N37,997.99.
Also, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) fell by 1.2 per cent to trade at N483.00, the Ripple (RPX) crashed by 6.8 per cent to trade at N273.96, while the Tron (TRX) dropped 4.9 per cent to trade at N13.84.
