Naira Gains 37 Kobo on Dollar at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira further appreciated by against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, August 14 by 37 Kobo or 0.02 per cent to close at N1,534.91/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,534.91/$1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency gained N4.56 against the Pound Sterling in the official market to close at N2,077.89/£1 compared with the previous day’s N2,082.45/£1 and improved against the Euro by N7.72 to close at N1,788.49/€1, in contrast to the N1,796.21/€1 it was traded a day earlier.

In the parallel market, the Naira remained stable against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,560/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has can continue to back the Naira while complementary efforts like sustained Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows and a recent surge in non-bank corporates have helped provide a safety net for the local currency.

This has helped keep any pressure in the market at bay, while external reserves continue to stay above $40.2 billion despite recent volatility in the oil market, which accounts for a large share of Nigeria’s foreign earnings.

Market analysts noted that the increase in Nigeria’s non-oil exports shows that other sources of foreign earnings are helping cushion the effect of oil prices volatility.

As for the crypto market, most of the tokens lost after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dashed hopes of crypto hopefuls, saying the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would be made up of the $15 billion to $20 billion already held by the government, but that there was no intention of making any fresh purchases.

However, he tried to salvage the situation later by saying his department is “committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways to acquire more Bitcoin to expand the reserve.”

The fresh buys would be in addition to tokens forfeited to the government, which will be the “foundation” of the reserve, Bessent said.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to create a strategic bitcoin reserve.

Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 6.3 per cent to $122.63, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 5.7 per cent to $0.2327, Cardano (ADA) declined by 4.5 per cent to $0.9404, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.9 per cent to $197.14, Ripple (XRP) tumbled by 3.6 per cent to $3.13, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 2.2 per cent to $119,213.13, Ethereum (ETH) dipped by 2.0 per cent to $4,640.13, and Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 0.1 per cent to $851.10, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.