Naira Stays Firm Against Dollar, Euro, Pound at Black Market

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

At the black market yesterday, the Naira remained unchanged against the three major foreign currencies.

Business Post reports that the local currency, which closed at N363 per Dollar last Friday at the parallel market, was traded at N363 to the Dollar at the close of business on Monday.

Also, the Naira closed yesterday at N425 to a Euro, a similar amount it was sold for last Friday at the black market.

In addition, the local legal tender stayed firm against the British Pound on Monday, trading at N475 at the market.

For a while now, the Nigerian currency has been selling for N360 to N370 at the parallel market.

Earlier this year, it was nearing N600 before the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) quickly intervened with the creation of addition forex windows to ease the pressure on Naira.

It also started releasing forex into the market mostly on a weekly basis. This has helped brought down the exchange rate.

Over the weekend, at an event in Lagos, one of the Deputy Governors of the central bank, Mr Joseph Nnanna, said the Naira might not fall further at the foreign exchange market before the end of this year.

“For us at the CBN, we believe that organic convergence is the way to go. Inorganic convergence, which is forced, will always produce an arbitrage and that we don’t want,” he said.

“Before, the naira exchange rate to a dollar was for almost N500/ dollar. Today, it has come down through a combination of policies. We didn’t force it down. It came down organically or naturally, and that’s the way it is supposed to be,” he said.

“The rate will not go up, take it from me. We have achieved stability and the stability is here to stay. The sustainability of the dollar interventions is already evident, the foreign reserve is growing. As I speak, it is $34 billion.

“When we had volatility, the reserve was as low as $20 billion. But let me say one thing: Nigeria can make do with a reserve level of $20 billion.

“All we need to manage the economy and manage it properly is a reserve that can cover at least three months of import,” the deputy CBN boss said.