Fakoyejo Olalekan
July 29, 2022 Dollar Rate Update: The naira depreciated in the official foreign exchange market on Friday, losing N2.80kobo in value, as traders on the Investors and Exporters window sold the dollar at N429/$1 by closing hour.
United States currency rose by 0.66% in value against the Nigerian legal tender, considering the American greenback had exchanged hands at the cost of N426.20kobo on Thursday in the official market.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelData from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, which houses the Investors and Exporters window, disclosed that during Friday’s trading in the official forex market, traders had transacted $59.59 million worth of international currencies.
The transaction value dropped by -53.9%, which represents a drop of $69.54 million, when compared to the $129.13 million, traded during the previous session.
Meanwhile, the naira saw a rise in value in the black market after a long week of depreciation against the US dollar. The Bureau De Change operators dropped their asking price for $1 to N705 on Friday, having demanded N710 on Thursday.
The rise in naira at the black market is surprising, keeping in mind that the Nigerian currency depreciated in the official market during the same day.
This comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) defended itself against criticism caused by the fall of naira last week, after crossing N700 to $1 in the black market. The apex bank had argued that it can’t print foreign currencies to save naira.
CBN blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) for the scarcity of forex, which has influenced the cost of dollar upward. The financial regulator said NNPC accounts for 80% of Nigeria’s foreign reserves, but has yet to pay into the reserves in the last four years.
