Victor Ezeja
The naira value has further risen against the dollar, at official market, thereby ending the week on positive note.
According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities and Exchange, the official trading platform of the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the naira on Friday, 9th August, further appreciated, trading at N1,574.20 to the dollar.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis reflects N19.42 or 1.22 per cent gain when compared to the previous trading day on Thursday, 8th August when it exchanged at N1,593.62 naira to one dollar.
Meanwhile, at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, the naira traded between N1,601.00 and N1,520.00.
On Monday, 5th August, the naira closed trading at N1,607/15 per dollar. On Tuesday, 6th August, it further appreciated to N1,601/$. On Wednesday, 7th August, it gained again, exchanging N1,596.52 per dollar. On Thursday, the local currency’s value further rose to N1,593.62 per dollar. This means the naira recorded N32.95 gained within the week.
The total daily FX turnover had dropped from $131.55 million on Friday, 2nd August to $77.09 million on Monday, 5th August and further decreased to $61.90 million on 6th August. It however experienced a surge to $93.92 million on Wednesday, 7th August, $141.99 million on Thursday, 8th August and $323.11 million on Friday, 9th August. This is an increase of $261.21 million representing 422 per cent rise within three days.
Analysts attributed the rise in value of the naira in the foreign exchange market this week to the ongoing efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to boost liquidity. The CBN had on Wednesday, sold $876 million to 26 auth0rised dealer banks who were successful in the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) to serve FX needs of their customers.
With the RDAS, the CBN aims to directly facilitate FX sales to end users. The mechanism enhances transparency in market, and promotes price discovery.
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.
