On Wednesday, the naira gained 5.06 percent in the official foreign currency (FX) market as dollar supply increased to $221.24 million in a single trading day.
According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited, the naira strengthened by 5.06 percent during trading, with the dollar quoted at N1,558.75, down from N1,637.59 on Tuesday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
The amount of money offered by willing vendors and purchasers rose from N143.15 million on Tuesday at NAFEM to $221.24 million on Wednesday, a 54.55 percent rise.
The intraday high printed at N1,659.50 per dollar, up from N1,655/$ the day before, per the market report. On the same day, the intraday low ended at N1,540, compared to N1,499 on Tuesday.
At the parallel market, sometimes known as the “black market,” the value of the local currency remained stable at N1,660 per US dollar.
In the NAFEM window last week, the exchange rate increased by 0.33 percent to settle at N1,593.32/$1, as per a report from Coronation Asset Management. Due to this, its year-to-date depreciation decreased from 43.25 percent the previous week to 43.07 percent.
On the other hand, the Naira had a 1.80% decrease in the parallel market, concluding the week at N1,670.00/US$1.The difference between the two rates is currently 4.8%.
In order to increase market liquidity during the week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold US dollars to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators at a cost of N1,580/$. The objective was to satisfy the requirements of qualified invisible transactions, such as medical expenses, school fees, and travel expenses for both personal and professional use.
With the help of non-bank corporates, total inflows through the NAFEM window rose to $477.00m from $403.00m the week before.
Due to withdrawals from non-bank corporates and the exporters/importers window, total outflows also dramatically climbed to $529.30m (from $370.90m the previous week). The CBN reported a minor increase in its gross foreign exchange reserves of $31.35 million, or 0.09 percent, ending the week at US$36.34 billion.
