Fakoyejo Olalekan
On Wednesday, 22 March 2023, the Naira regained some value lost to the United States Dollar (USD), after appreciating by –0.10 per cent in the official market.
This means the cost of buying one Dollar fell by N0.5 kobo at the end of trading hours in the official market, FMDQ Exchange discloses.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPrime Business Africa learnt from data released by FMDQ Exchange that the foreign exchange rate closed at N461.50 kobo/$1 on Wednesday, below the N462/$1 both currencies exchanged for on Tuesday.
Before the exchange rate ended yesterday’s trading at N461.50 kobo, the Dollar rate traded at a high of N544.50 kobo, as well as traded at a low of N460.
Also, Investors and Exporters raise the value of foreign exchange (Forex) transactions traded in the official market on Wednesday by 588.9 per cent.
During trading on Tuesday, 21 March 2023, in the official market supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), investors and exporters traded $62.6 million.
But the day after, investors and exporters exchanged $431.77 million worth of forex transactions, which is $369.10 million higher when compared to the value of foreign exchange transacted on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, pressure for Dollars in the black market is likely to be relaxed starting from next week, as the central bank has agreed to release more Naira to commercial banks.
Recall that the scarcity of the Naira and phase out of the old currencies have been projected to encourage people to hoard Dollars.
According to a top bank chief who spoke to Punch on condition of anonymity, banks have been told to visit CBN branches to obtain the old cash in order to end the scarcity.
“The CBN governor met with bank CEOs this evening virtually. It was a short meeting that lasted for just about 15 minutes. The governor said all old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes will be released to commercial banks beginning from Thursday. The CBN will start with crisp old notes after which the ones deposited by DMBs will be returned. The plan is to flood the economy with cash and ameliorate the challenges Nigerians have been passing through,” the bank CEO said.
“Also, the CBN will be cancelling cash withdrawal limits it put in place recently. This means that individuals can now withdraw up to N500,000 across the counter while corporate bodies can do N5m. The CBN is expected to release a circular to this effect later tonight or tomorrow morning (today). But effectively, things should be back to normal as far the cashless policy is concerned,” the source added.
