Victor Ezeja
The Naira on Tuesday, 6 August, further appreciated at the official market, trading at N1601 to the dollar.
According to data from the FMDQ Securities and Exchange, the official trading platform of the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the Naira gained N6.15.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis represents 0.38 per cent appreciation when compared to the previous trading day on Monday, 5 August when it exchanged at N1,607.15 naira to one dollar.
While the naira has recorded appreciation for the second day in the week, the total daily FX turnover has continued to drop. From $131.55 million on Friday, 2 August, it dropped by 41.4 per cent to $77.09 million on Monday, 5 August and further decreased to $61.90 million which represents 19.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1623.00 and N1, 560.00.
CBN Interventions
Since the devaluation of the naira in the first half of 2023 which resulted from the floating of the local currency, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has adopted several measures to stabilise the value in the foreign exchange market. While the apex bank battles inflation by raising the benchmark interest rate for four consecutive times by over 700 basis point, it has also on different occasions, intervened in the forex market to increase supply of dollars by selling to authorised dealers to meet demands, especially at the retail end of the market.
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Last two weeks, the CBN sold a total amount of $148 million to authorised dealers. The foreign exchange was sold to 29 Authorized Dealer banks at exchange rates ranging between N1,470.00$1 and N1,510.00/$1. It was the third tranche of sales to authorised FX dealers in July as the CBN tried to boost liquidity in the FX market.
Also, the apex had announced in a statement signed by Dr Omolara Omotunde Duke, Director, Financial Markets Department, that on 18 and 19 July 2024, it sold $106.5 million to 29 authorised dealer banks at exchange rates ranging from N1,498/$1 to N1,530.00/$1 and bought $9.5 million from four authorised dealer banks at rates between N1,510/$1 and N1,550/$1.
Three weeks ago, the CBN had also announced that it sold $122.67 million to 46 authorized dealers.
