Naira Remains Stable Across Major Market Segments

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a relatively stable affair for the Naira/Dollar exchange rate at the black market segment of the foreign exchange market on Friday.

The local currency, at the close of transactions, remained at N461 against the US Dollar at the parallel market yesterday.

Also, against the Pound, the local currency closed flat at N560/£1 and remained unchanged against the Euro to trade at N502/€1/

At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the forex market, the Naira/US Dollar exchange rate was flat at the Lagos BCD market at N458/$1. It was a similar situation with the British currency, which remained stable at N567/£1, the domestic currency appreciated by N2 on the Euro to close at N500/€1 versus N502/€1 it was traded on Thursday.

At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the domestic currency closed flat against the Dollar to sell at N457/$1. Against the Pound, the Naira dropped N2 to close at N552/£1 compared with N550/£1 of the previous session and against the Euro, it gained N1 to close at N494/€1 in contrast to the previous rate of N495/€1.

In Abuja, the local currency closed flat against the Dollar, Pound and the Euro at N459/$1, N550/£1 and 500/€1 respectively.

Also, at the Kano market, the Nigerian currency retained its previously traded rates against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N456/$1, N540/£1, and N490/€1 respectively.

Furthermore, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, the Naira recorded no movement against the US Dollar at N386/$1.

This happened as there was a drop in the demand for forex at the market yesterday, which resulted in a lower transaction value for the day compared with the previous session.

Trades worth $105.05 million were executed at the I&E window on Friday, compared with the $204.95 million achieved on Thursday, indicating a reduction by $99.9 million or 48.7 percent.

At the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market, the value of the Naira against the greenback remained unchanged at N361/$1 yesterday.