Naira Records Another Gain Against US Dollar at Official Foreign Exchange Market

• For the fourth day in a row, the naira strengthened against the US dollar in the official foreign exchange market
• This is happening as the Central Bank of Nigeria continues its effort to create more liquidity of foreign exchange in the market
• It was, however, a different story for the Nigerian currency in the two unofficial markets

Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.

The Nigerian currency, the naira, continued to appreciate against the US dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment of the FX market.

The latest data from FMDQ securities revealed that the naira closed on Monday, March 5, 2024 at N1,534.19/$1.

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This represents a N14.06 or 0.9% improvement compared to last Friday’s value of N1,548.25/$1.

The latest exchange rate marks three straight days of gains for the naira against the US dollar.

This happened despite forex supply depreciating by 39.7% or $117.37 million to $178.63 million from the $296.00 million recorded in the preceding trading session.

Naira also maintained stability against the pound sterling and the euro in the spot market, remaining unchanged at N1,956.06/£1 and N1,675.25/€1, respectively.

Naira at the unofficial market

It was, however, a different story for the naira at the unofficial market amidst a continued crackdown on cryptocurrency online traders such as Binance.

Checks showed that at the parallel market, the naira weakened against the US dollar by N45 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,560/$1.

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A Bureau De Change operator, Abdullahi at Ikotun in Lagos, told Legit.ng, that the recent policies by the CBN and also the federal government targeted at BDCs have made life difficult.

"Now we have to hide to conduct our business. Everybody thinks we, the BDC operators, are the problem, but the truth is the problem lies in forex supply. If there is enough supply, the value of the Naira will rise. We set our rates based on demand."

Pastor Adeboye predicts naira will bounce back

Legit.ng earlier reported that Adeboye prophesied the possibility of the Nigerian currency bouncing back against the dollar with greater influence.

Adeboye revealed the prophecy at the RCCG's monthly Thanksgiving service on Sunday, with the theme ‘Uncommon Miracles’.

According to the religious leader, there was a period when Nigeria's currency completely favoured the US dollar.

Source: Legit.ng