Naira Weakens to N470/$1 at Black Market After Christmas

December 30, 2020
Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the black market and Investors and Exporters (I&E) after the Christmas break on Tuesday, December 29.

During the trading session, the local currency depreciated by N5 against the greenback at the unregulated foreign exchange (forex) market to trade at N470/$1 compared to N465/$1 it was traded at the preceding trading session.

This may have been caused by the huge request for the Dollar by customers, who needed then to complete their trades ahead of the New Year holiday this week.

At the same parallel market yesterday the Naira also depreciated against the Pound Sterling by N3 to quote at N628/£ in contrast to the previous rate of N625/£1 and against the Euro it also fell by N3 to finish at N573/$1 versus N570/$1.

Business Post gathered from the FMDQ Securities Exchange that the Naira also did not perform well against the United States currency yesterday at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window as it depreciated by N3.50 to close at N393.50/$1 as against N392/$1 it was sold at the last trading day.

This was majorly caused by the inability of authorised FX dealers at the market segment to meet the rising demand of their customers during the session.

According to data from the FMDQ, there was $30.72 million or 31.2 per cent spike in the demand for the greenback yesterday to $129.19 million from the previous session’s $98.47 million. The spillover from this market caused the pressure on the Naira at the black market on Tuesday.

But at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment, according to data obtained from the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the Naira maintained stability against the American currency yesterday, closing at N395/$1.

This pattern was maintained at the interbank market window, where the value of the local currency against the US Dollar remained at N379/$1.

Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market, the woes of the Ripple (XRP) continued on Tuesday as investors further dumped the digital currency over uncertainty concerning its fate in the US. The token lost 12.1 per cent to sell at N95.88.

Also, Dash (DASH) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to sell at N48,636.15, while Tron (TRX) lost 0.2 per cent to settle at N13.01.

But the Bitcoin (BTC) appreciated by 4.6 per cent to sell at N13,141,999.99, Ethereum (ETH) added 5.5 per cent to its value to trade at N347,210.21, Litecoin (LTC) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at N61,450, while the United States Dollar Tether (USDT) went up by 1.1 per cent to sell for N475.00.

Adedapo Adesanya

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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