The exchange rates of the Nigerian Naira against its global counterparts like the U.S Dollar, Pounds Sterling and the Euro common currency can best be described as mixed on Monday as the local currency exchanged slightly lower against the United States Dollar at N416.39, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s data.
The CBN rates depict the rates at which Nigerian banks can access forex from the central bank. Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in return add operating costs within CBN stipulated range for final customers, Investors King stated.
The Naira improved slightly against Pounds Sterling N567.14 it exchanged on Friday to N567.08 on Monday. While against the Euro, the Naira traded at N472.56, an improvement from N473.08 it exchanged on Friday.
At the unregulated black market, the U.S Dollar was exchanged at N566 to the Naira and purchased at N570 in Ibadan on Monday. In Lagos and Abuja, exchange rates were largely unchanged.
Foreign Reserves
Nigeria’s foreign reserves inched slightly higher to $39.795 billion, up from $39.786 billion recorded on February 2, 2022. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy continues to grapple with dwindling foreign reserves due to its weak foreign revenue-generating avenues.
Despite rising crude oil prices, Nigeria has not been able to up its foreign reserves due to its inability to up crude oil production and meet its OPEC+ production target.
Crude Oil
Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil priced, rose to $97.61 per barrel on Tuesday at 3:00 am Nigerian time following the decision of the U.S, UK and Euro-area to impose first stage sanction on Russia for announcing plans to recognise Kremlin, the province that broke away from Ukraine.
The uncertainty surrounding global oil supply due to the projected crude oil disruption from Russia to Euro bolstered oil prices as experts are predicting a tight crude oil market, especially with OPEC+ struggling to meet their target and sustain agreed 400,000 barrels daily crude oil increase.
Cryptocurrency to Naira
The entire cryptocurrency space remained in the red ahead of the Federal Reserve expected rates increase. Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate declined by 6.11% in the last 24 hours to N15.208 million.
While Ethereum, the second most capitalised cryptocurrency sheds 4.25% to N1.055 million. XRP, Cardano (ADA) and Binance coin (BNB) led the decline with 13.07%, 15.06% and 9.09% in the last 24 hours.
