Dollar Glut Boosts Naira to N369/$

• Dollar Glut Boosts Naira to N369/$

The continuous intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, at the foreign exchange market has started filtering through key sectors of the economy as the Naira appreciated to N369 per dollar on the parallel market, from N375/$ it traded on Thursday.

Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, last week recalled that the local currency was trading at about N520 to the U.S. dollar on the parallel market, but has since improved to range between N370 -N375 following a series of policy put in place by the apex bank to boost the Naira value.

Speaking further, he said this is a significant achievement. However, he explained that the monetary authorities would prefer a convergence rate that would head southwards.

“We would prefer a convergence that will significantly head southwards, than a convergence that will go northwards. The fact that we have seen a convergence in the southward direction gives us a lot of hope that things are working in the right direction,” he said.

Nevertheless, on a monthly average, the foreign reserves plunged slightly, declining by $644 million when compared with the $30.974 billion recorded on May 2, 2017.

Naira gained 3.4 percent against the U.S. dollar to close at N316.63 on the Bloomberg spot exchange rate after reaching N324 on Tuesday. It 9-month high.