By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar by 0.6 per cent or N6.34 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, April 15, trading at N1,136.04/$1 compared with last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,142.38/$1.
Despite the value of the domestic currency getting stronger against the greenback, inflationary pressures have intensified, rising increased to a 28-year high of 33.20 per cent in March 2024, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday versus 31.70 per cent in February 2024.
The Naira has beaten forecasts as it has appreciated against the Dollar in recent weeks, gaining over 40 per cent, from a high of N1,900/$1 to the current N1,100/$1 level.
As the local currency rebounds, Nigerians expect a significant reduction in the prices of food and basic commodities, but this hasn’t been the case with high cost of living, as the NBS said food inflation surged by 40.01 per cent last month.
Business Post reports that in the official market yesterday, the Naira gained against the Pound Sterling by N149.28 to trade at N1,417.65/£1 versus N1,566.93/£1 and improved its value against the Euro by N132.91 to sell at N1,211.92/€1 versus N1,344.83/€1.
The gains were recorded in the spot market amid a 10.6 per cent or $29.74 million shortfall in the value of forex transactions. The turnover for the day was $251.60 million, in contrast to last Friday’s $281.34 million.
A look at the black market segment showed that the Naira appreciated against the Dollar on Monday by N25 to quote at N1,115/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,140/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it weakened as momentum dropped with Solana (SOL) slumping by 10.7 per cent to $133.93 and Binance Coin (BNB) losing 7.7 per cent to trade at $554.66.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 4.1 per cent to sell at $0.1543, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 3.8 per cent to $62,795.93, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 3.2 per cent to $3,052.22, Ripple (XRP) went down by 2.9 per cent to $0.4892, Litecoin (LTC) decreased by 2.8 per cent to $77.16, and Cardano (ADA) plunged by 2.5 per cent to $0.4583, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
Modupe Gbadeyanka