By Dipo Olowookere
It was a good week for the local currency in line with expectations of financial experts as the Naira appreciated by 0.82 percent against the Dollar at the Bureau De Change (BDC).
The Nigerian legal tender ended the week at N361/$ amid sustained series of special interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Also, the Naira appreciated at the parallel (black) market segments by 1.09 percent to close N364/$, while the local currency gained at Investors & Exporters Forex Window (I&E FXW) by 0.03 percent to close at N365.23 amid increased Dollar supply.
However, the Naira depreciated at the interbank foreign exchange market by 0.02 percent to close at N359.24/$ despite the weekly injections of $210 million by CBN into the foreign exchange market via the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
During the exercise, the apex bank sold $100 million to Wholesale SMIS, $55 million to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and $55 million to cater for the invisibles.
Meanwhile, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate fell (i.e. Naira appreciated) for most of the foreign exchange forward contracts – 2 month, 3 months and 6 month fell by 0.01 percent, 0.06 percent and 0.03 percent respectively to close at 372.80/$, 376.30/$ and 387.07/$ respectively. However, spot and 1 year FX rate rose by 0.02 percent and 0.18 percent to close at N306.90/$ and 415.27/$ respectively.
