The Naira recorded marginal gain in its exchange rate against the US dollar on Tuesday at the parallel market, to trade at an average rate of N745/S1 from the N746/$1 it traded on Monday.
Some FX dealers in the parallel market linked the local currency’s gain to prospect of improved business activities in the economy as the lingering cash crush is easing following last Friday’s directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria to banks to ensure cash payments in old banknotes to millions of their customers.
However, the Naira depreciated by 0.03% at the cryptocurrency Peer-to-Peer (P-2-P) exchange, to trade at an average of N746.67/$1 from the N734.45/$1 it traded the previous day.
Similarly, despite its slight gain at the black market, the Naira depreciated by 0.04%, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Monday to close at N461.5/$1 as against the N461.33/$1 it exchanged at during last Friday’s trading session.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the I&E window trading session on Monday reflected that the FX turnover decreased by 57.84% to $101.77 million from the $241.38 million that exchanged hands at the window last Friday.
The apex bank’s data further showed that the Naira’s opening indicative rate at the I&E window on Monday closed at N461.75/$1 while it traded at N462.42/$1 as the highest rate during intra-day trading session before it settled at N461.5/$1. The Naira traded as low as N460/$1 during the intra-day trading session.
The bank also reported that Nigeria’s external reserves decreased to $35.74 billion last Friday, 24th March, from the $35.78 billion that accrued to the reserves as of Thursday, 23rd March this year.
