By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) auctioned the Dollar at N381 at the interbank segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Tuesday.
This indicated a depreciation by 5.54 percent or N20 when compared with the rate it traded on Monday, N361/$1, at the same segment.
This came as the CBN raised the rate at the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), a window where importers access foreign currencies, from N360/$1 to N380/$1 with an instruction to bidders to comply accordingly.
Business Post also gathered from the FMDQ portal that the exchange rate of the naira/dollar remained at N380.50/$1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) market.
At the market segment on Tuesday, it was observed that the demand for the American dollar rose by 918.4 percent or $93.22 million to $103.37 million from $10.15 million.
At another segment of the foreign exchange market, the Bureau de Change (BDC), operators in Lagos sold the dollar for N459/$1 in contrast to the previous day’s N458.2/$1, indicating that the local currency lost 80 kobo against the greenback.
Against the Pound, the local currency lost N1 against the Dollar at the same location to sell at N567/£1 versus N566/$1 it sold previously, while on the Euro, it lost N2 to trade at N502/€1 in contrast to the previous N500/€1.
In Abuja, the local currency gained N2 against the American currency to close at N457/$1 compared to N459/$1. Against the Pound, it appreciated by N3 to sell at N547/£1 versus N550/£1 and gained by N8 against the Euro to N492/€1 from N500/€1.
At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the domestic currency dropped 50 kobo against the dollar to sell at N457.50/$1 in contrast to the previous N457/$1. Against the Pound, the Naira rose by N2 to close at N550/£1 compared with N552/£1 and against the Euro, it depreciated by N2 to close at N497/€1 versus N495/€1.
In Kano, the local currency gained 50 kobo on the Dollar at N457/$1 versus N457.50/$1, while it traded flat against the Pound and Euro at N540/£1 and N490/€1 respectively.
At the black market, operators traded the local currency at N461/$1, the same rate it was traded at the previous session rate on Monday.
At the same segment, the domestic currency shed N3 against the Pound at N558/£1 versus N555/$1, while against the Euro, it retained its previous rate of N502/€1.