Naira Gains 0.46% Against at Official Market, Now N463/$1

By Dipo Olowookere

The significant loss the Naira recorded against the United States Dollar on Wednesday was recovered on Thursday at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (FX).

The local currency came under heavy forex demand pressure in the midweek session, weakening its value in the official market and sparking another devaluation fear.

But yesterday, it regained its strength after it appreciated by N2.13 or 0.46 per cent against the greenback to close at N463.00/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N465.13/$1.

This was supported by the improvement in the supply of forex into the market, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) makes efforts to stabilise the ecosystem amid a slowdown in the FX earnings of the country.

During the session, the value of FX transactions went down by $162.80 million or 60.97 per cent to $104.24 million from $267.04 million.

However, in the peer-to-peer (P2P) segment of the market, the domestic currency further depreciated against its American counterpart on Thursday by N8 as it finished at N778/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s exchange rate of N770/$1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira lost N2 against the Dollar in the parallel market to trade at N751/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N749/$1 as forex traders on the streets battle with disruption to liquidity, affecting the value customers exchange their Naira to the Dollar.