Naira Strengthens at Official Market as CBN Lifts Ban on 43 Items

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira strengthened against the Dollar by 2.3 per cent or N17.60 in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) on Thursday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifted a ban on the purchase of the greenback in the official market to import 43 specified items after the measure diverted demand to the unregulated market.

In the spot market, the value of the Naira closed at N759.20/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N776.80/$1 despite a significant rise in the value of FX by 1,302.8 per cent or $378.60 million to $407.66 million from the midweek session’s $29.06 million, according to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.

After eight years, those seeking to bring cement, rice and 41 others into the country will be allowed to get FX at the official market rather than going to other unregulated markets to acquire the currency.

In the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window yesterday, the domestic currency depreciated against the US Dollar further weakened by N13 to close at N1,041/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,028/$1.

In the black market, the value of the domestic currency against the greenback depreciated by N15 to trade at N1,045/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s exchange rate of N1,030/$1.

In the official market, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling by N4.97 during the session to sell at N942.64/£1 versus the previous day’s N947.61/£1 and gained N4.12 against the Euro to close at N813.12/€1 versus N817.24/€1.

As for the digital currency market, most of the coins tracked by Business Post shrank as US inflation barely declined in September, evidence that consumer price increases are grinding lower at a gradual pace.

The US Consumer prices rose 0.4 per cent from August to September, below the previous month’s 0.6 per cent pace.

Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to finish at $26,811.23, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.5 per cent to $1,540.70, Solana (SOL) went down by 2.7 per cent to $21.22, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 0.8 per cent to sell at $0.068, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.6 per cent to $204.72, Ripple (XRP) lost 0.4 per cent to trade at $0.4821, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.2458, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) slipped by 0.03 per cent to $0.9996.

However, Litecoin (LTC) improved its value by 0.1 per cent to settle at $61.35, and Binance USD (BUSD) rose by 0.01 per cent to sell at $1.00.