Dollar Rate Static In Official Market Since Report Of CBN Devaluing Naira

The FMDQ Exchange, the official market foreign exchange aggregator, disclosed that the dollar rate closed flat on Monday, June 5.

According to data from FMDQ, the foreign exchange rate between the naira and the dollar settled at N464.67/$1, as the rate stabilises for three days straight.

Note that during the day’s session, the dollar rate was sold at different rates, going as high as N467/$1 and as low as N460/$1 before it eventually winds up at N464.67/$1. 

The data showed that investors and exporters in the official market transacted $77.48 million, against the $98.90 million posted the previous session.

The value of transactions fell by $21.42 million or 21.65% when both sessions are compared, indicating scarcity of foreign exchange persists in the official market. 

Prime Business Africa noted that the dollar rate in the official window has been stable since a report emerged from Daily Trust that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased the USD rate on Thursday. 

Since Thursday, the naira to dollar rate has closed at N464.67/$1, the same day report disclosed that the CBN sold the USD at N631. 

The report said the CBN increased the rate by N169.4 kobo or 36.6%, from the previous dollar rate of N461.6, claiming the naira has been devalued. 

However, the central bank denied the report, stating that the official dollar rate was trading around N465/$1, contrary to the claim that the USD was sold at N631/$1. 

“We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while,” CBN said. 

Although Daily Trust responded, stating that the newspaper stands by its report, as there is evidence to prove the CBN sold the USD at N631.