Nigerian Naira Gains as FX Supply Improves

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Nigerian Naira rose against the US Dollar by 0.15 per cent or N17.87 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, August 27, to exchange at N1,594.27/$1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,596.60/$1.

This feat was achieved on the back of an improvement in the supply of FX into the market during the session, easing pressure on the local currency.

Data showed that the forex turnover for the trading session increased by 52.5 per cent or $54.01 million to $156.94 million from the preceding day’s $102.93 million.

This may indicate that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has resumed its intervention in the FX market after letting the market breathe in the past week to avoid oversupplying.

However, the domestic currency suffered a further loss against the British Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N9.95 to wrap the session at N2,104.82/£1 versus the previous day’s N2,094.87/£1 and declined by N6.07 to finish at N1,777.16/€1, in contrast to Monday’s exchange rate of N1,771.09/€1.

Also, in the black market segment, the Naira further weakened against the greenback during the trading session by N5 to settle at N1,615/$1 compared with the N1,610/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

As for the digital currency market, most tokens fell on Tuesday as the crypto economy strives to regain stability after early August’s turbulence sent markets reeling.

Bitcoin (BTC) and several other crypto assets lost their footing, easing a rebound that followed US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium last week with market watchers now anticipating a rate cut at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in September.

Ethereum (ETH) dropped 7.5 per cent to sell at $2,474.90, Solana (SOL) slumped by 6.5 per cent to trade at $147.48, Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled by 5.7 per cent to $0.094, and BTC crashed by 5.3 per cent to $59,475.51.

Cardano (ADA) went down by 4.5 per cent to $0.3505, Litecoin (LTC) plunged by 4.1 per cent to $60.67, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 3.9 per cent to $0.5685, and Binance Coin (BNB) dwindled by 3.1 per cent to $534.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.