Naira Falls Across Board Amid CBN’s New Exchange Rate Incentive

The Nigerian Naira remained under pressure despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s efforts at propping up the value of the currency against its global counterparts.

At the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official forex section,  a US dollar which was exchanged at N416.52 on Friday now goes for N416.59; Pounds Sterling to naira also dropped from N557.5953 to N558.2306 and Euro exchange now at N466.3725 from N465.9609.

Investors King recalls that on Friday, the apex bank announced that it will pay N65 for every US$1 repatriated and sold at the I&E Forex Window to Authorised Dealer Banks (ADBs) for other third party use. While N35 will be paid for every US$1 repatriated and sold into I&E Window for personal use on eligible transactions.

The new CBN exchange rate incentive was introduced to discourage merchants from patronising black markets and enhance naira appreciation. 

Despite the incentive introduced to stabilise forex earnings, ensure sustainable forex inflows and regulate persistent forex shortages, the naira is yet to gain against its global counterparts.

At the Investors and Exporters Forex Window, the foreign exchange market on Tuesday opened at N415.58 to a US dollar and closed at N416.67, representing a decline of 0.02%. Investors and Exporters transacted $121.54 million for the day. While at the unregulated black market, the local currency remained under pressure at N566 to a Dollar.

Foreign Reserves

For two weeks Nigeria’s external reserves was below $39.863 billion, the rate for Monday. The least amount in the two weeks however was $39.777 billion.

The consequent falling and rising could be traced to the inadequacies of the nation’s export commodities which in turn affect its foreign revenue generation.

Cryptocurrency to Naira

At the cryptocurrency market on Wednesday, the XRP is exchanged at ₦322.59 per coin with a total market value of ₦15.03 trillion adding up 1.12 percent. It was the lowest price on the cryptocurrency market.

The Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate stood at ₦25,191,612 per coin, gaining 2.80 percent with its market capitalisation hitting ₦477.94 trillion

Ethereum to Naira exchange rate traded at ₦1,241,904 with a market capital value of ₦148.77 trillion, gaining 2.16 percent. Also, the Binance Coin sold for ₦235,736 with a market value of ₦39.64, adding up 5.37 percent.