Victor Ezeja
Nigeria’s local currency, the naira, has continued to sustain its appreciation, ending the week on a positive note as it marches closer to below ₦1,000 mark in both parallel and official windows of the foreign exchange market.
According to the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) data published on the FMDQ Securities and Exchange platform, trading at the official market closed on Monday, 8 April, at ₦1,230.61/$1, marking a 1.63 per cent gain from the previous week’s Friday when it exchanged at ₦1,251.05 against dollar.
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Data published on the FMDQ platform shows that naira closed trading on Friday, 12 April at the official market at the rate hike of ₦1,142/$ per dollar.
This reflects a 7.17 per cent increase in value from the Monday’s closing exchange rate.
The Friday’s closing rate marks the highest between the Naira and the Dollar in over two months.
It witnessed an intraday high of ₦1,265.00/$1 and a low of ₦1,100.00/$1.
Daily forex turnover was $281.34 million, recording a significant increase of $155.79 million (124.1 per cent) from Monday’s $125.55 million.
There was no trading recorded at the official market between Tuesday and Thursday due to public holiday declared by the Federal Government for Eid-el-Fitr celebration.
Similar tale of naira appreciation was recorded at the parallel market, as sources in that trading segment said exchange rate was quoted at around N1,150/$1.
READ ALSO: Steady Dollar Supply Pushes Naira To N1,262/$, Delighting Nigerians
Prime Businesses Africa reports that Bureau de Change (BDC) operators, quoted the buying rate of the greenback at ₦1,110 and the selling price at ₦1,150, leaving a profit margin of ₦40. This is a 0.86 per cent appreciation from the ₦1,160 recorded on Thursday, April 11.
READ ALSO: Why CBN Banned Use Of Foreign Currency Collaterals For Naira Loans
The continued appreciation of the naira in the foreign exchange market has been attributed to a raft of monetary policy measures introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria to restore the local currency’s stability.
The apex bank on Monday, 8 April announced the third tranche of dollar sales to BDCs to meet end-users demands in the retail market, declaring its willingness to disburse $10,000 to each eligible operator at the rate of N1,101/$1. The BDCs were mandated to sell at a spread of not more than 1.5 per cent of the purchase price. This means they were to sell at not more than ₦1,117 per dollar.
Within the week, the apex bank also directed all commercial banks to stop the use of foreign currency-denominated collaterals for naira loans.
The financial regulator is intensifying its efforts to boost liquidity and strengthen the naira in the forex market.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
