Naira Weakens to N988.46/$1 at NAFEM as FX Supply Shrinks to $15m

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira got underway in 2024 with an 8.9 per cent or N81.35 depreciation against the Dollar to trade at N988.46/$1 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, January 2 compared with the preceding session’s N907.11/$1.

However, the Nigerian Naira witnessed no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market during the trading day at N1,144.57/£1 and N995.10/€1, respectively.

This happened as the supply of foreign exchange (FX) to the spot market depreciated by 82.8 per cent or $73.92 million to $15.38 million from the $89.30 million recorded last Friday.

Equally, the domestic currency depreciated against the American currency by N25 yesterday to sell at N1,203/$1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s rate of N1,178/$1.

Similarly, the local currency weakened against the United States Dollar during the trading session in the black market by N10 to quote at N1,220/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,210/$1.

The depreciation of the Naira is expected to persist throughout a significant portion of 2024, analysts warned, after it depreciated by nearly 50 per cent last year.

The final direction of the currency will hinge on whether the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) implements tangible measures that increase the influx of US Dollars into the country and restore confidence in the official market.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) jumped past $45,500 on Tuesday for the first time since April 2022, as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency started the new year with a bang, buoyed by optimism around the possible approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETF).

It gained 6.5 per cent yesterday to trade at $45,506.14, as Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 4.1 per cent to sell at $2,396.79, with Solana (SOL) rising by 10.4 per cent to $115.26.

Further, Cardano (ADA) rose by 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.6282, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 3.6 per cent to $0.0933, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 3.0 per cent gain to trade at $0.6374, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 2.4 per cent to $75.15, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 2.2 per cent to sell for $318.14, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and US Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.