Victor Ezeja
Nigerian naira on Thursday, appreciated for the first time in the week as it exchanged N1576.10 against dollar at the official market.
This reflects a massive gain of N91.32 or 5.48 per cent when compared to Wednesday’s closing rate of N1667.42/ dollar, according to the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) data published on the FMDQ Securities and Exchange platform.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe naira had been on a steady decline from the week beginning until Thursday. Between Monday, 23 and Wednesday, 25 September, the local currency had lost N125.9 which represents 8.17 per cent depreciation at the official market.
The NAFEM data also showed that there was a massive surge in dollar supply to the foreign exchange market as the FX turnover increased by 232.49 per cent from $100.47 million on Wednesday to $334.05 million on Thursday, 26 September.
Prime Business Africa reports that the naira appreciation comes a day after the CBN announced sales of $20,000 to each eligible Bureau de Change (BDC) operator in the country. The move was to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market and saved the naira from plunging further.
According to the apex bank, the decision to sell another round of dollars to BDCs was to increase dollar supply to meet retail market demands for invisible transactions.
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.
