Market News

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (FX) market by 1.7 per cent or N7 on Friday, assuaging fears that the currency will be devalued again.

The local currency sold for N415.07/$1 at the official FX window yesterday in contrast to N422.07/$1 it traded on Thursday, according to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange.

The Nigerian currency had suffered a significant loss a day earlier after investors feared that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may be forced to devalue the Naira again.

Speaking at the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) earlier this week, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had said there was a “need to move our rates to [be] as reflective of the market as possible. This, in my own respective view, is the only way to improve supply,” which was indicative of devaluation.

He progressed by saying that, “We can’t get new dollars into the system, where the exchange rate is artificially low. And everyone knows how much our reserves can grow. I’m convinced that the demand management strategy currently being adopted by the CBN needs a rethink, and that is just my view.”

He also lamented the lack of access to forex for the importation of systems and raw materials as one of the contributory factors of the current economic situation.

Although the Vice President has come out to say he did not call for a devaluation, the market had spurred to action but has now rebalanced.

At the final session of the week, a turnover worth $337.28 million was recorded as against $141.94 million published at the preceding session.

This indicated a $195.34 million or 137.6 per cent surge in the daily turnover of the specialised market that caters to the country’s investors and exporters.

However, the domestic currency closed flat against the American Dollar at N410.91/$1 at the interbank segment of the forex market on Friday.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) continued a surge at the cryptocurrency market, trading at N34,900,200.01 after a 6.1 per cent gain as hopes grew that regulators in the United States would allow a futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), a move likely to open the path to wider investment in digital assets. It largely spurred a boost in the most popular digital currency and also robbed off on some others.

Tron (TRX) added 2.9 per cent to trade at N55.58, Dash (DASH) rose by 2.5 per cent to sell for N107,420.17, Binance Coin (BNB) made a 1.2 per cent appreciation to trade at N194,938.27, Litecoin (LTC) sold for N101,102.04 after rising by 0.4 per cent, while Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.3 per cent to trade at N2,174,753.84.

On the losing side, Dogecoin (DOGE) was 1.3 per cent down to sell at N133.66, Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.8 per cent to N1,254.12, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) moved downwards by 0.6 per cent to sell for N568.38, while Ripple (XRP) lost 0.3 per cent to trade at N644.01.