The Naira opened the week sharply depreciating in its exchange rate against the US dollar at the parallel market in the early hours of Monday, trading at an average of N775/$1, representing a 2.15% depreciation from N756/$1 it exchanged at last Friday.
Some black market traders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) told our correspondent during a chat that the sharp depreciation of the local currency to the scarcity of the greenback even as electioneering spending continues to push more Naira into the market.
Despite its loss at the parallel market, the Naira slightly appreciated by 0.49% on Monday at the cryptocurrency Peer-to-Peer (P-2-P) exchange, trading at an average of N752.9/$1, from N756.6/$1 it exchanged at last Thursday.
Data provided by the CBN on the investors and exporters (I&E) window trading indicated that the Naira appreciated by 0.16% last Friday to close at N461.25/$1, compared to N462/$1 it exchanged at during the preceding day’s trading session.
The data reflected that the FX turnover at the I&E window in the day under review stood at $81.78 million in the day under review, representing a 17.30 % increase over the $69.72 million that exchanged hands last Thursday at the window.
At the official window last Friday, the trading trend showed that the local currency’s opening indicative rate at N461.5/$1 while its highest exchange rate during intra-day trading was N462.09/$1 before it settled at N461.25/$1. The local currency traded for as low as N446/$1 during intra-day trading.
Meanwhile, the CBN reported that Nigeria’s external reserves level decreased for the fourth consecutive day last Thursday to $36.78 billion from $36.79 billion that accrued to the account the previous day.
