Naira Improved by N3 Against the United States Dollar to N462 at the Black Market

The Nigerian Naira gained N3 from N465 it exchanged against the United States dollar since Tuesday to N462 on Friday at the black market.

The Naira plunged from N360 to a US dollar following a change in the nation’s macroeconomic fundamentals and the negative impacts of COVID-19 that further dragged Nigeria’s foreign currency generation into the red zone.

The situation forced the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adjust the local currency exchange rate twice this year to accommodate the change in Nigeria’s financial position in the wake of weak crude oil demand and sales.

Against the British Pounds, the Nigerian Naira gained N4 to exchange at N596, better than the N600 it has been trading since Tuesday.

However, the Naira exchange rate remained unchanged against the European common currency, the Euro. The Naira traded at N452 to a single Euro, the same rate it has been trading for almost two weeks now.

On the Investors and Exporters forex exchange window of the FMDQ Group, the Naira official rate stood at N379 to a US dollar.

But settled at N386 per dollar after opening the day at N386.63. The local currency plunged as low as N393.44 to a US dollar and as high as N383 during the trading hours of the day.

The improvement may be due to the weak demand given the Thursday holiday and the general drop in demand by importers struggling to find buyers for their items amid dwindling household earnings and high unemployment rate, especially after the social unrest that further compounded the nation’s woes.