Market News

The naira extended its decline against the dollar on the official market yesterday, closing at N1,603.80 per dollar compared to N1,586.71/$1 on Wednesday, data from FMDQ shows.

The local currency also fell against the greenback on the parallel market yesterday dropping to N1,590 per dollar compared to N1,575/$1 on Wednesday.

Analysts note that surging demand for forex, occasioned by summer travels, is adding pressure on the naira despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) significant interventions in the forex market in recent weeks.

The apex bank had on July 10 and July 11, sold a total of $122.7 million to authorised dealers.

Also, last Thursday, it issued a circular, in which it announced that ithad approved the sale of the sum of $20,000 to each eligible Bureau De Change (BDC) at the rate of N1,450/$1.

It said that the rate represented the lower band of the trading rate at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) in the previous trading day.

Similarly, last Friday, the CBN announced that had injected additional liquidity into the forex market with its sale of a total sum of $106.5 million forex to 29 authorized dealer banks between Thursday, July 18 and Friday, July 19, 2024.

According to a circular issued by the apex bank, the amounts were sold at an exchange rate range of NI,498.00/$1 to NI,530.00/$1.

The statement also said the CBN bought $9000,500 from four authorised dealer banks at rates between NI,510.00/$1 and NI,550.00/$1.