Naira Gained Against Euro, Pounds Sterling at Official Forex Window

The Nigerian Naira sheds 0.17 percent or 69 kobo against the United States Dollar to N416.33 at the official foreign exchange window managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Against the British Pounds, the Naira appreciated to N557.4, up from N560.7 it was exchanged on January 24, 2022. While against the Euro common currency, the Naira appreciated by 1.4 percent or N6.4 to N463.6 from N470 it opened last week.

At the unregulated parallel market, popularly known as the black market, the local currency was exchanged at N568 to a US Dollar on Monday, January 31, 2022. However, the CBN has warned against patronising the black market for forex.

Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves

The Nigerian foreign reserves declined by $32.715 million to N40.151 billion, according to the latest update from the CBN. That represents a 0.8 percent decline from $40.184 billion recorded on January 26, 2022.

Nigeria’s inability to expand its foreign revenue generation continues to drag on the nation’s foreign reserves and ability to increase economic productivity given the fact that it imports over 90 percent of its consumptions.

Crude Oil

Oil prices traded at a new seven-year high on Monday as the uncertainty surrounding Russia and Ukraine continues to dictate price action.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, rose to $91.23 a barrel in the early hours of Monday before moderating to around $89.22 a barrel at 12:37 pm Nigerian time.

Presently, the Federal Government has raised the price of Nigeria’s crude oil to $95.23 a barrel, higher than the current global price. This is largely due to the quality and surge in demand for limited Nigerian oil in recent weeks.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin to naira exchange rate dipped 2.26 percent to N15.434 million in the last 24 hours amidst uncertainty surrounding the crypto space ahead of the US Fed rates hike.

Global economic experts are projecting that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at least three times this year to contain the inflation rate and start withdrawing some of the stimulus given to the economy at the peak of COVID-19 in 2020.

This, crypto traders and watchdogs expect to weigh on capital inflow into crypto space as institutional investors sustaining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are expected to look elsewhere especially US assets.