Naira Stables Across FX Market Segments as CBN Gambit Pays Off

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira stabilised against the US Dollar across segments of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, September 25.

This may have been influenced by the interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to converge the exchange rate of the local currency at the various market windows.

The CBN has sold over $250 million to the Bureaux De Change (BDCs) since the resumption of forex sales on Monday, September 7, 2020, all in a bid to ease the pressure on the Nigerian currency.

With more liquidity made available to the retail end of the market, BDCs operators made adjustments to the exchange rate against the greenback as reported by Business Post on Thursday.

On Friday, according to data sourced from the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), dealers in Lagos maintained the previous day’s exchange rate at N386/$1.

But the Naira appreciated against the British Pound by N3 yesterday to close at N597/£1 versus N600/£1 and gained N2 on the Euro to trade at N543/€1 versus N545/€1.

In Abuja, the local currency closed flat against the Dollar, Pound and Euro on Friday at N386/$1, N596/£1 and N547/€1 respectively.

At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the Naira/US Dollar exchange rate remained unchanged at N386/$1, while it appreciated against the British currency by N11 to N592/£1 from N603/£1 and gained N20 on the Euro to close at N536/€1 as against the previous rate of N556/€1.

At the Kano BDC market, the local currency maintained its previous rate against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N386/$1, N598/£1 and N548/€1.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment on Friday, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the American currency at N386/$1 on the back of a 13.4 per cent or $13.26 million decline in the demand for forex at the window to $85.43 million from the previous session’s $98.69 million.

At the interbank window, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained stable at N379/$1 at the close of trading and it was a similar situation at the black market, where the local currency closed flat against the American currency at N466/$1.

It also traded flat at the same parallel market against the Pound and the Euro yesterday at N600/£1 and N548/€1 respectively.