By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira losses showed no signs of abating after it further declined against the US Dollar by 0.21 per cent or N3.16 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to exchange at N1,512.61/$1 on Wednesday, July 3 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,509.45/$1.
In the same vein, the value of the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling at NAFEX yesterday by N2.76 to settle at N1,917.34/£1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,914.58/£1 and lost 8 Kobo against the Euro to quote at N1,624.34/€1 versus the preceding trading day’s N1,624.42/€1.
The loss continued during the midweek session amid a decline in FX supply to the market by 46.1 per cent or $98.40 million to $114.91 million from the $213.31 million posted a day earlier.
The official market over the last two weeks has weakened as the US Dollar strengthened in the international market over recent political shakedowns including the possible re-emergence of Donald Trump while the far-right political party gained ground in France.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the Dollar yesterday by N5 to trade at N1,520/$1, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s N1,515/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was weak on Wednesday, with the price of Bitcoin (BTC) down by 3.8 per cent to $58,682.74 amid a wider sell-off in the crypto market.
Solana (SOL) slumped by 9.6 per cent to trade at $134.48, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 7.2 per cent to sell at $69.94, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 6.9 per cent to $0.1139, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 5.8 per cent to finish at $534.33, Cardano (ADA) saw its value decrease by 5.6 per cent to $0.3914, Ripple (XRP) made a 4.8 per cent loss to end at $0.4569, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 4.6 per cent to close at $3,206.80, and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) slid by 0.02 per cent to sell at $0.9999, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) appreciated by 0.02 per cent to settle at $0.9992.
Dipo Olowookere