Market News

The value of the naira continued its freefall on the parallel market as speculators continued to mop up and hoard dollars while at the Investors’ and Exporters’ window, the value of the local currency remained around N412 to the greenback.

At the parallel market the value of the naira depreciated by N12 2.2 per cent within two days. Compared to N545 to the dollar at which it closed last Saturday, the naira fell to N550 at the close of business on Monday and further depreciated to N557 to the dollar at the end of business yesterday.

At the I&E window, the naira which closed last week Friday at N412 had depreciated to N412.75 but appreciated on Tuesday to close at N412.08 to the dollar. Volume at the window had soared by 83.10 per cent with $161.82 million on Monday as against the $88.39 million posted at the close of trading last week Friday.

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The depreciation of the naira at the parallel window has continued to widen as it rose to N145 from N85 which it was before the Central Bank stopped selling foreign exchange to bureau de change operators amidst a rise in speculation in the foreign exchange market.

Meanwhile, the external reserves continued its accretion as the 30-day moving average stands at $34.859 billion as at September 10, 2021 compared to $34.1 billion which it was at the beginning of the year.