Panic Grips Forex Speculators as Naira Gains at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

Things are presently not going in favour of foreign exchange (forex) speculators in Nigeria as the value of the Naira against the Dollar received a significant boost at the black market on Monday.

In recent times, speculators have had a field day, pushing the value of the foreign currency higher at the parallel market and causing panic. This has made the local currency to trade to close to N500.

But the announcement of the resumption of forex sales to Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators from next week seems to have done the magic as the domestic currency is gradually getting back on its feet.

At the black market yesterday, the local currency pulled a N12 gain on the US Dollar to trade at N465/$1 compared with N477/$1 it traded last Friday.

It also gained N10 against the Pound Sterling and the Euro on Monday to sell for N605/£1 and N545/€1 respectively compared with the previous rates of N615/£1 and N555/€1.

At the BDC market, the local currency appreciated against the Dollar in Lagos by N14.30 to close at N462/$1 versus N476.30/$1 of the previous session, data from Association of the Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) indicated.

Against the Pound, the domestic currency was strengthened by N3.50 to sell for N615/£1 compared with N618.50/£1 it previously traded and against the Euro, it was fortified by N9 to trade at N543/€1 as against N552/€1 it traded previously.

At the Kano BDC market, the domestic currency gained N14 against the Dollar to trade at N463/$1 versus N477/$1, while it dropped N2 against the Pound to close at N610/£1 versus N608/£1 and gained N12 on the Euro to close at N540/€1 versus N552/€1.

However, in Port Harcourt, the local currency was flat against the Dollar, Pound Sterling and the Euro at N472/$1, N617/£1 and N560/€1 respectively. This same scenario occurred in Abuja, where the value of the Naira against the Dollar, Pound and Euro remained unchanged on Monday at N474/$1, N617/£1 and N560/€1 respectively.

At the interbank segment of the market, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained flat at N379/$1.

It was the same at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment, where the Nigerian currency closed flat against its American counterpart yesterday at N385.67/$1.

This occurred despite the 18.9 per cent or $2.28 million rise in the demand for forex at the window as transactions worth $14.37 million were executed in contrast to the previous session’s $12.09 million.