By Adedapo Adesanya
The gap between the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar in the official market and the black market segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market further widened on Monday.
Last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) liberalised the exchange rate regimes to ensure the gap closes, but things seem to be falling apart at the moment.
Yesterday, the Nigerian currency appreciated against its United States counterpart in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window by N1.07 per cent or N8.62 to sell at N795.28/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N803.90/$1.
The fortification of the Naira occurred after the value of forex transactions slumped by 26.3 per cent or $12.35 million to $34.55 million from the $46.90 million recorded in the preceding session.
Also, in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) wing, the local currency appreciated against the American currency by N11 to trade at N806/$1, in contrast to the previously traded rate of N817/$1.
But in the parallel market, the Naira lost N7 against the greenback to quote at N820/$1 versus the last trading session’s value of N813/$1.
Similarly, the nation’s legal tender declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market on Monday by N6.20 to sell at N1,017.76/£1 versus N1,011.56/£1 and against the Euro, it shrank by N8.65 to N872.09/€1 from N863.44/€1.
In the cryptocurrency market, investors’ concerns about ongoing regulatory developments and macroeconomic headwinds drove prices down, with Bitcoin losing 0.7 per cent to finish at $30,092.95, and Ethereum (ETH) shedding 1.4 per cent to sell at $1,906.95.
Further, Solana (SOL) went down by 6.1 per cent to $26.51, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.1 per cent to trade at $0.3087, Ripple (XRP) fell by 1.1 per cent after last week’s euphoric victory against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to trade $0.7419.
In addition, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.0698, and Litecoin (LTC) depleted by 0.8 per cent to $92.34, while Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 0.3 per cent to $244.04, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) closing flat at $1.00 each.
Dipo Olowookere