Emmanuel OchayiForex traders witnessed a challenging start to the week as Dr. Olayemi Cardoso assumed his role as Acting CBN Governor.
Dr. Cardoso took the helm as acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last Friday after the official resignation of Mr. Godwin Emefiele who had been embroiled in controversy for months.
The naira struggled to maintain stability, with the exchange rate hovering around N1000/$1.
Peer-to-peer platforms saw rates soar as high as N1,006/$1, especially in transactions involving cryptocurrency stablecoins.
The day began with the naira trading just below the N1,000/$1 mark on P2P platforms, only to worsen as the business day progressed.
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In contrast, the parallel market reported a slight appreciation, with rates rising to approximately N990/$1, although remaining above N1000/$1 for forex “inflows.”
Traders attributed this modest uptick to market conditions but cautioned that it might be short-lived, given the persistent demand for foreign currency.
Meanwhile, the official Investor and Exporter Window (NIFEX) settled at N773/$1, reaching an intra-day peak of N799.50/$1.
The Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate (NAFEX) stood at approximately N759.71/$1.
A significant concern is the widening gap between official and parallel market rates, which has reached 22.7%, well above the 5-10% differential typically considered acceptable.
Forex turnover witnessed a sharp decline, plummeting to $64 million from $153.7 million on the previous trading day.
This decline was notable compared to the $54 million turnover observed just a week ago on September 18.
Despite challenges in the forex market, Nigeria’s external reserves remained stable at around $33.2 billion as of September 22, 2023, even as the Minister of Finance cited $6.8 billion in overdue forward payments.
In other currency news, the Naira to Euro exchange rate stood at N1,038/EUR1, while the Naira to UK Pound exchange rate was N1,250/£1.
As the nation faces forex uncertainties, market participants will closely watch developments in the coming days.
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