Naira Strengthens on US Dollar Across FX Market Segments

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, February 26 as respite came to the market after fresh supply eased the mounting pressure on the local currency.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the domestic currency appreciated against the greenback by 4.9 per cent or N8.66 to close at N1,582.94/$1 versus the N1,665.50/$1 recorded last Friday.

The Naira then maintained stability against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session to remain unchanged at N1,880.81/£1 and N1,609.89/€1, respectively.

The value of forex trades recorded in the official market yesterday marginally increased by 1.5 per cent or $2.23 million to $154.16 million from the $151.93 million achieved in the preceding trading session.

Also, in the peer-to-peer (P2P) window of the market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the American currency by N62 to sell at N1,643/$1 compared with the N1.705/$1 it was traded in the previous trading day.

In the black market, the Naira gained N180 against the Dollar on Monday to quote at N1,520/$1 versus Sunday’s closing price of N1,700/$1.

It was also speculated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may resume the weekly sale of foreign exchange (FX) to BDCs in a bid to boost liquidity and give the Naira more backing in a string of efforts to help staunch recent free falls.

Last week, the central bank announced plans to increase the minimum capital base of Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators to N2 billion for national operations and N500 million for regional.

As for the digital currency market, Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the $54,000 mark as positive sentiment boosted the possibility of cryptocurrencies getting more prominence, rising by 5.7 per cent yesterday to sell at $54,660.63.

In addition, Cardano (ADA) rose by 5,4 per cent to $0.6194, Solana (SOL) gained 5.0 per cent to sell at $108.55, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 4.2 per cent to $72.92, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 3.3 per cent to $401.77, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 2.8 per cent to $3,187.51, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 2.9 per cent to $0.0887, and Ripple (XRP) soared by 1.3 per cent to $0.551, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the Binance USD (BUSD) traded flat at $1.00 each.