Naira Tumbles to N1,522/$1 at Official Market Despite CBN Intervention

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira lost N10.23 or 0.75 per cent against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 7, selling at N1,522.78/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,512.55/$1.

The domestic currency weakened in the official market during the session despite a dual intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to market traders, there was a double intervention by the apex bank on Friday in an effort to ease the pressure on the local currency.

Already, the recent poor performance of the Naira in the currency market is fanning concerns about its stability, especially when the country’s FX reserves are depleting.

At the spot market yesterday, the Nigerian currency crashed against the Pound Sterling by N47.74 to sell for N1,960.28/£1 versus Thursday’s rate of N1,912.28/£1 and against the Euro, it tumbled by N40.39 to quote at N1,648.94/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,608.55/€1.

A look at the black market segment showed that the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the greenback on Friday by N10 to settle at N1,570/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,560/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was upside down yesterday after a White House official backpedaled on President Donald Trump’s announcement about the creation of a strategic crypto reserve, stating that the five cryptocurrencies mentioned were examples and not necessarily the largest by market cap.

In a March 2 social media post, Mr Trump claimed that a “US crypto reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks from Biden administration.”

The announcement that it would include Solana (SOL), Cardan0 (ADA) and Ripple (XRP) was met with criticism from many in the industry, who expressed concerns that the inclusion of altcoins in a strategic reserve could be a vehicle for corruption and self-dealing.

As a result, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 5.2 per cent to trade at $0.8296, Ripple (XRP) went down by 5.1 per cent to $2.36, and  Solana (SOL) declined by 3.2 per cent to sell at $139.76.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.4 per cent to quote at $86,462.32, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 1.9 per cent to $2,144.48, Dogecoin (DOGE) dipped by 1.4 per cent to $0.1979, and Binance Coin (BNB) plunged by 0.8 per cent to $597.86.

However, Litecoin (LTC) increased its value by 2.9 per cent, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded at $1.00 each.