Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira prevented a fourth consecutive depreciation at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Thursday, February 6, 2020.
For the first time this week, the local currency recorded its first gain against the United States Dollar at the market window, appreciating by 36 kobo or 0.10 percent against the Dollar to trade at N364.17/$1 against N364.53/$1 it traded at the mid-week session.
This came despite a rise in the market turnover at the I&E segment during the session as data from FMDQ showed that transactions worth $310.62 million were achieved in contrast to $175.71 million, indicating a rise in turnover by 77 percent or $134.91 million.
The Naira’s performance at the parallel market against the three major foreign currencies was flat as the exchange rates remained unchanged against the Dollar at N360/$1, against the Euro at N397/€1 and against the British Pound Sterling at N476/£1.
At the official window of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is also known as the Interbank segment, as the Naira/USD exchange rate remained unchanged at N306.95/$1.
But at the Bureaux De Change (BDCs) segment in Lagos, the Naira appreciated by 20 kobo against the American currency at Thursday’s session to close at N358 to a dollar compared with N358.20 per Dollar it traded previously. Also, the domestic currency appreciated by N1.50k against the pound to close at N472/£1 in contrast to N473.50/£1 of the previous session, while it recorded a different outcome against the Euro, dropping 50 kobo to sell at N395.5/€1 versus N395/€1 it went for on Wednesday.
There was no change to the Naira/USD exchange rate at the Port Harcourt BDC market as it closed at N358/$1, with same situation maintained against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at the same market, trading at N475/£1 and N397/€1 respectively.
In Abuja, the local currency traded flat against the greenback to exchange at N359/$1 and remained unchanged against the Pound to quote at N475/£1, while it dropped N1 on the Euro to sell at N396/€1 compared with N395/€1 recorded on Wednesday.
At the Kano BDC market, the Naira gained 50 kobo against the Dollar to close at N358/$1 in contrast to N358.50k to a dollar it was the previous day, while it appreciated by N4 gain against the Euro to close at N395/€1 versus the previous N399/€1, and gained N3 on the Pound to sell at N472/£1 compared with N475/£1 on Wednesday.
