Nigerian Naira Falls at Official Market, Black Market, Gains at P2P

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and the parallel market windows of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday but appreciated in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment as the country battles with a shortfall in the supply of forex into the currency market.

The liquidity crisis is making it difficult for FX traders to meet the high demand of their customers, especially those who need foreign currencies for travel and other needs, putting pressure on the local currency.

In the official market, the domestic currency depreciated against the Dollar yesterday by 1.26 per cent or N4.66 to settle at N772.82/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s exchange rate of N768.16/$1, amid an increase in the value of forex transactions.

The turnover for the session stood at $79.99 million compared with the $58.22 million achieved a day earlier, indicating a jump of 37.4 per cent or $21.77 million.

Also, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency slumped against its American counterpart yesterday by N5 to sell at N860/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N855/$1.

But in the P2P segment, the Naira gained N1 against the greenback to sell at N849.00/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N850.00/$1.

The Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market on Friday by N4.67 to sell at N990.52/£1 compared with the previously quoted rate of N995.19/£1 and against the Euro, it chalked up N6.08 to trade at N856.92/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N863.00/€1.

Information that a revised US bill that excludes a host of traditional securities from the “digital asset” category, which some say affects the industry, did not pressure the crypto market yesterday, as Bitcoin (BTC) jumped 0.2 per cent to $29,883.47, though Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 0.1 per cent to $1,894.16.

Litecoin (LTC) rose by 2.1 per cent to $94.32, Solana (SOL) grew by 1.5 per cent to $25.70, and Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 0.5 per cent rise to sell $244.31.

However, Ripple (XRP) depleted by 2.3 per cent to $0.7727, Cardano (ADA) dropped 0.7 per cent to trade at $0.3126, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.4 per cent to $0.0722, while Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) closed flat at $1.00 each.