Naira Weakens Further To 517 Against Dollar

According to a report by The PUNCH, the naira fell further against the dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday after staying steady at 515/$ in recent days.

The local currency fell to 517 against the US currency at the parallel market on Wednesday.

At the Investors and Exporters’ window, the naira weakened by 0.06 per cent to close at 411.75/$ on Wednesday, according to FMDQ Group.

The naira had strengthened to 506/$ on August 4 after plunging to 525/$ at the parallel market on July 28, a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria stopped foreign exchange sales to Bureaux de Change. It had been hovering around 508/$ and 510/$ in recent days.

The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, had on July 27, at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, announced the stoppage of forex sale to the BDCs, saying they had turned themselves into ‘agents that facilitate graft and corrupt activities of people who seek illicit fund flow and money laundering in Nigeria’.

He said the CBN would channel a significant portion of its weekly allocation currently meant for BDCs to commercial banks to meet legitimate forex demand for ordinary Nigerians and businesses.

The PUNCH had reported on Monday that the total forex transactions on FMDQ Securities Exchange rose by about 2.24 per cent last week.

The Exchange said in the forex spot and derivatives markets, the total turnover for the week ended August 13, 2021 was $692.60m, up from $677.44m reported for the previous week.

It said the week-on-week increase in turnover was driven by the 12.31 per cent increase in the forex spot, despite the 24.06 per cent decrease in forex derivatives turnover.

The total value of transactions in the Investors’ & Exporters’ window was $550.14m, representing an increase of 12.31 per cent from $489.85m in the previous week.

According to the Exchange, the average Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing rate was N411.17/$, compared to N411.16/$ recorded in the previous week, representing a depreciation of the naira against the dollar by 0.003 per cent.

The naira, however, appreciated against the dollar by 0.04 per cent at the parallel market as it averaged 510.60/$, compared to 510.80/$ in the previous week.