Victor Ezeja
The naira ended the week on a positive note, appreciating at the official market on Friday, 18 October 2024.
According to the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) data published on the FMDQ Securities and Exchange platform, the naira closed trading at N1,600.78 per dollar at the official market.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis reflects N59.71 gain when compared to N1,660.49 per dollar recorded on Thursday, 17 October.
However, the local currency fell at the parallel market also known as black market from N1,710 recorded on Thursday to N1,730 per dollar on Friday.
On a week-on-week analysis, the naira gained N40.49 when compared to N1,641.27/$ on Friday, 11 October.
The naira began the week on a note of appreciation as trading closed at N1,552.92/$ on Monday, 14 October. It, however, depreciated to N1,658.97/$ on Tuesday, 15 October, N1,659.69/$ on Wednesday, 16 October, and reached the peak of its fall to N1,660.49/$ on Thursday.
According to the data on FMDQ platform, dollar supply to the foreign exchange market recorded a significant surge from $330.18 million on Thursday, to $350.72 million on Friday, representing 6.22 per cent.
READ ALSO: Naira Slips Again As Dollar Supply Drops
However, on a week-on-week analysis, the dollar supply reflects a decrease of 43.13 per cent from $616.73 million recorded on Friday, 11 October.
The naira has continued to fluctuate against the dollar at the FX market in the past few months despite interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The apex bank has continued to intervene in the FX market by injecting dollars into the market through sales of FX to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators and authorised dealer banks to boost liquidity and reduce demand pressure.
However, economic experts have observed that the intervention through dollar sales at lower rates only has momentary effect as what is needed to drastically reduce the pressure of demand on naira and shore up the value of the local currency is taking deliberate steps to increase production in the economy to boost FX earning.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
