The Nigerian Naira maintained a flat rate against the US dollar at N420.75/$1 on the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Tuesday. 

According to Investors King, this is almost the same rate the local currency traded on Monday when it exchanged at N420.25 to US$1.

At the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulated forex section, the U.S Dollar was sold at N415.63 to deposit money banks and international money transfer operations allow to deal with the CBN directly. The apex bank acquired US$1 at N414.63 as of June 6, 2022.

However, despite the CBN selling dollars at N415.63 to deposit money banks for onward sale to importers and other forex users, Nigerians are complaining that it is impossible to access forex at CBN stipulated rate in any of the banks. Hence, why the black market section continues to thrive.

Most importers and businesses are now patronising that section of forex despite the CBN warning.  This explains the surge in demand that has now bolstered the exchange rate at the black market to as high as N607 to a single U.S. Dollar, an increase of about 33% from the CBN mandated rate.

Foreign Reserves

While the CBN has continued to service the economy with the U.S. dollar, the bank’s intervention rate has dropped due to the decline in Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

The central bank sustained Nigeria’s Naira exchange by selling dollars realised from crude oil sales. However, because of the persistent decline in Nigeria’s crude oil sales in the first half of 2022, the apex bank has been unable to strategically support the Naira as usual.

For instance, Nigeria’s foreign reserves started nosediving since politicians commenced campaigns for the 2023 general elections. Data from the CBN showed foreign reserves declined from $39.012 billion on May 13, 2022, to $38.422 billion, representing a decline of $588 million.

This decline has been attributed in part to the bribery of delegates expected to vote in various primaries.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Rate

Evidently, the digital currency has witnessed a slight recovery since the past week, having to deal with a constant decline in value.

Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate appreciated in the last 24 hours by 2.49% to N18,250,022 a coin as against the N17,655,200 million a coin on Tuesday.

The Ethereum token (ETH) also witnessed an improvement of 2.38% to close N1,081,309 to a coin as against  ₦1,051,333 of yesterday, and apparently the first time since its consistent decline in value for a week plus.

Binance coin (BNB) followed through as the rate grew with a 1.14% going for N172,997, unlike the N166,036 to a coin as of yesterday.