By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions at the foreign exchange (forex) market in Nigeria closed mixed amid further drop in the external reserves.
At the Investors & Exporters Forex Window (I&E FXW), the Naira declined by 0.11 percent to close at N362.67 per Dollar amid a 0.42 percent week-on-week decrease in external reserves to $47.1 billion as at Friday, August 2, 2018.
However, the local currency remained unchanged against the US Dollar at the Bureau De Change segment and the parallel market to close at N357/$ and N360/$ respectively as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sustained its special intervention.
Also, according to analysts at Cowry Asset, the Naira/Dollar rate closed flat at the interbank foreign exchange market at N330/$ amid weekly injections by the apex bank of $210 million into the foreign exchange market via the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
A breakdown of the injection showed that $100 million was allocated to Wholesale (SMIS), $55 million was allocated to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and $55 million was sold for invisibles.
Meanwhile, most dated forward contracts at the interbank over-the-counter (OTC) segment depreciated; spot rate, 1 month, 2 months contracts lost 0.02 percent, 0.04 percent and 0.04 percent to close N305.95/$, N365.57/$ and N368.96/$; however, 3 months and 6 months contracts gained 0.09 percent and 0.24 percent to close N371.99/$ and N384.18/$ respectively.
Next week, “we expect stability at the alternative forex market segments amid sustained CBN interventions therein,” Cowry Asset said.
Adedapo Adesanya