By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar and other major foreign currencies at the parallel market on Thursday ahead of the effective date for the travel restrictions placed on some countries by the Nigerian government.
On Wednesday, the federal government bowed to pressure by announcing a travel ban on 13 countries highly affected by the deadly coronavirus. This followed the recording of fresh cases of the COVID-19 disease in the country.
To stop the spread of the coronavirus, Nigeria, from today, Friday, March 20, 2020, is restricting entry into the country for travellers from 13 countries with more than 1,000 cases recorded. On Thursday, a day after the decision was announced, the country’s cases reached 12.
The restriction will apply to travellers from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, the United States, Norway, UK, Netherlands and Switzerland.
The federal government also directed civil servants not to travel out of the country at this crucial period.
At the parallel or black market of the foreign exchange market, the Naira appreciated by N5 against the Dollar to close at N375/$ as against N380/$ it recorded on Wednesday.
The domestic currency further gained N10 on the Pound to sell at N480/£1 compared with the previously quoted rate of N490/£1, while against the Euro, it appreciated by N1 to N414/€1 from N415/€1.
However, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the currency market, the Naira depreciated by N2.33 or 0.63 percent against the greenback to trade at N370.35/$1 in contrast to N368.02/$1 it was exchanged on Wednesday.
Business Post observed that the depreciation of the domestic currency came despite a decline in the value of transactions achieved yesterday at the market.
According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, traders transacted $505.73 million at the investors’ window yesterday compared with $982.80 million traded at the previous session, indicating a decline of 49 percent or $477.07 million.
A look at another segment of the market, the Bureaux De Change (BDC) window, showed that at the Lagos BDC market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against its American counterpart at N376/$, while it depreciated by N5 against the British currency at N485/£1 versus N490/£1 and gained N1 against the Euro to trade at N414/€1 compared with the previous exchange rate of N415/€1.
According to the data from the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the Naira traded flat against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at the Abuja BDC market, closing at N374/$1, N479/£1 and N410/€1 respectively.
Likewise, in Port Harcourt, the exchange rate of the domestic currency against the three major foreign currencies remained unchanged. The Dollar was traded at N372, the Pound at N486 and the Euro at N415.
But at the Kano BDC market, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar by N5 to sell at N374/$1 in contrast to the previous N369/$1 rate. It, however, traded flat against the Pound at N480 and the Euro at N417.
At the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market on Thursday, the official Naira/Dollar exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remained at N307/$1.
Modupe Gbadeyanka