Naira Weakens Further to N1,300/$1 at Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated yet again against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, April 23, raising fears that the old days may have returned.

Business Post reports that in the official FX market, the Nigerian currency lost 5.3 per cent or N65.66 against the greenback to close at N1,300.15/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,234.49/$1, amid a rise in the value of forex transactions during the session.

Data showed that the turnover for the trading session increased by $23.48 million or 21.3 per cent to $133.65 million from the $110.17 million achieved in the preceding day.

Also, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the spot market by N111.01 to sell at N1,542.32/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,431.31/£1 and against the Euro, it depleted by N104.23 to quote at N1,332.35/€1 versus Monday’s rate of N1,228.09/€1.

To further prop up the FX market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a new circular to all Bureau De Change (BDC) operators announcing a fresh sale of forex at a reduced rate of N1,021 per Dollar.

This initiative represents the second time this month (at N1,1100/$1) and the fourth instance this year, underlining the CBN’s proactive strategy in managing currency volatility and ensuring the availability of FX.

However, the value of the Naira to the Dollar in the parallel market did not end well for the former, as it weakened further by N25 on Tuesday to close at N1,275/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,250/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Cardano (ADA) lost 3.5 per cent to trade at $0.5033, Ripple (XRP) shed 1.9 per cent to settle at $0.5496, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 0.9 per cent to $85.18, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.1607, and Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to trade at $66,445.00.

Meanwhile, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 1.4 per cent to close at $608.81, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to sell at $3,218.06, and Solana (SOL) increased by 0.2 per cent to $156.69, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.