Value of Naira Slumps at I&E, Black Market, P2P

By Adedapo Adesanya

The United States Dollar did not show love to the Nigerian Naira on Valentine’s Day as it battered the local currency in the various segments of the foreign currency market on Tuesday.

The scarcity of cash also did not help matters during the session as Nigerians await the outcome of a Supreme Court decision today, Wednesday, February 15, over the suit brought before it by the state government over the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Tuesday, the Naira depreciated against the greenback by 67 Kobo or 0.15 per cent to trade at N461.67/$1 compared with the previous day’s N461.00/$1.

The value of the Naira slumped despite the FX trades declining by 67.04 per cent or $140.06 million to $68.85 million from the preceding day’s $208.91 million., according to data from FMDQ Securities Exchange.

Also, at the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) window, the local currency lost N1 against the US Dollar to sell for N765/$1 versus the previous session’s N764/$1.

Similarly, in the parallel market, the domestic currency depreciated against its American counterpart by N1 to settle at N754/$1, in contrast to the N753/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

However, in the interbank segment, the Naira gained N2.26 against the Pound Sterling to close at N556.13/£1 compared with Monday’s rate of N558.39/£1, and on the Euro, it appreciated by N1.16 to N492.18/€1 from N493.34/€1.

In the crypto market on Tuesday, Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded by 0.9 per cent to $22,175.52 as markets reacted to the US inflation report. The annual rate hit 6.4 per cent in January, down slightly from 6.5 per cent in December and far lower than a peak of 9.1 per cent last year.

During the session, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 3.3 per cent to sell at $1,551.71, Cardano (ADA) rose by 7.7 per cent to trade at $0.3849, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 4.9 per cent to $95.49, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 4.1 per cent to $21.63, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 3.4 per cent gain to trade at $0.3795, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 1.8 per cent to $0.0832, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 1.5 per cent to $295.10.

But Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.