Fakoyejo Olalekan
July 13, 2021 Dollar Rate Update: Nigeria’s legal tender, naira, continues to depreciate in value in the black market against the dollar, but the currency gained ground in the official foreign exchange market.
On Wednesday, the local currency fell by -0.16% to the dollar, going for sale at N618/$1, after the Bureau De Change operators increased their asking price from Tuesday’s N617/$1.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe naira maintained its value in the peer-to-peer market, where one dollar was sold for N623 on Wednesday, retaining the exchange rate of the previous session, as high demands for the United States currency in the parallel market place an heavy burden on naira.
However, in the official market of the Investors and Exporters window, the naira mopped up some gains to appreciate by 0.74% to exchange for one dollar at N424.58, during the period under review.
The rise in naira’s value reverse the growth of dollar, having exchanged at N427.75/$1 last week Friday. Recall that the official market resumed from the public holiday of the Muslim, Eid-el-Kabir, held on Monday and Tuesday.
Resumption of foreign currency trade in the Investors and Exporters window witnessed a rise in demand and supply of the forex, with $60.84 million transacted on Wednesday, surpassing the last session’s $48.67 million.
It is an increment of $12.17 million, indicating importers appetite for more forex, amid a period Nigeria is having shortage of foreign currency to meet demand. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not disclosed intention to intervene with more FX in the official market.
CBN has already concluded on not supporting the black market, cutting the parallel sector of the foreign exchange market off its forex pipeline, and has ignored calls from Bureau De Change operators to supply forex.
