The Naira weakened to N1,700 against the United States Dollar on the black market on Wednesday and extended this outcome further in the official foreign exchange (FX) market.

In the black market, the Naira lost N12.63 or 0.75 percent against the greenback to close at N1,706.43 to the US Dollar compared to N1,693.80/$1 it closed on Tuesday.

The Naira also fell by 0.06 percent on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) extending the weakening of the local currency which started earlier in the week

The local currency exchanged for the US Dollar at N1,654.09/$1, sliding by N1.07 versus N1,653.02/$1 that it closed at the previous session on Tuesday.

The FX market has been volatile as recent efforts to bring some stability to the market through a series of auctions held by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for official dealers and Bureau de Change (BDCs) have not been able to tackle high seasonal demand.

With the year entering into the last two months, high demand has returned to the market and all eyes will be on what the CBN will do in that regard.

Data showed that there was a decrease in daily supply as the midweek turnover published on the FMDQ Group website stood at $136.68 million indicating that the session’s turnover made a 22.4 percent slide, indicating that there was a drop of $39.47 million compared to $176.15 million that was published in the last trading session.

The Naira also witnessed drops against the Pound Sterling and the Euro. It declined N9.86 on the British currency to wrap the session at N2,147.22/£1 from N2,137.36/£1 that it sold at the previous session.

In the same trend, against the Euro, the Nigerian currency dropped N9.67 and closed at N1,789.93/€1 versus N1,780.26/€1.

The Naira also dropped in its value against the British currency in the black market as it fell by N8.86 to sell at N2,212.37/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,203.51/£1 and followed the same pattern against the Euro as it depreciated N5.71 to quote at N1,844.79/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,839.08/€1.

Meanwhile, the local currency further depreciated N3.54 to close at N1,233.01 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Monday’s N1,226.55 per CAD.

The Naira closed strong in the parallel market but weakened further in the official foreign exchange (FX) market as seasonal demand continued to affect the currency despite the fresh sale of FX by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In the parallel market, the Naira gained N5.17 against the greenback to close at N1,693.80 to the US Dollar compared to N1,698.97/$1 it closed on Monday.

However, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), which serves as the official foreign exchange market, showed the Naira recorded a 3.1 percent depreciation against the US Dollar to N1,653.02.

At the previous session on Monday, the Naira closed lower at N1,603.16/$1, indicating a further decrease of N49.86 at the approved market.

A turnover of $176.15 million was on record at the market, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited. This indicated a $183.07 million or 50.9 percent decline versus the $359.22 million quoted recently.

The Naira also gained in its value against the British Pound Sterling in the official market by N9.73 to sell at N2,203.51/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,213.24/£1 and followed the same pattern against the Euro as it appreciated N6.21 to quote at N1,839.08/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,845.29/€1.

Meanwhile, the local currency depreciated 74 Kobo to close at N1,226.56 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Monday’s N1,225.82 per CAD.

At the official market, the Naira witnessed gains against the British Currency and the Euro in the Tuesday session.

On the Pound Sterling, the local currency made a gain of N16.54 to wrap the session at N2,137.36/£1 from N2,153.90/£1 that it sold at the previous session and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency closed at N1,780.26/€1 versus N1,791.06/€1, indicating an N10.80 appreciation.

The CBN has not injected fresh FX sales into the market for yet another week after it promised to always prop the market.

Speaking in the US on Tuesday at the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank summit, the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun noted that Nigeria needed to boost its oil production to fix its FX issues.

“The key about the foreign exchange market really is supply and as you know we are an oil-producing country, we just need to get our oil production up and that will deal with that issue of foreign exchange supply and pressure on foreign exchange anytime there are large flows.”

The Naira depreciated at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the parallel market on Monday, signifying more worries for the local currency.

At the official market – NAFEM – the local currency sold for the US Dollar at N1,603.16/$1 as it recorded a 0.15 percent or N2.38 drop versus N1,600.78/$1 it was valued at the previous session on Friday.

This occurred as supply rose at the opening session as turnover published on the FMDQ Group website stood at $359.22 million indicating that the session’s turnover went higher by 2.4 percent or $8.50 million compared to $350.72 million that was published the day before.

At the unofficial market, the domestic currency closed at N1,698.97 to the US Dollar, a drop of N8.15 compared to N1,690.82/$1 it closed during the Friday trading session.

The weakening of the Naira is happening as the nation’s external reserves continue to swell due to lower US Dollar volume sales to boost liquidity in the official FX market.

Latest data showed the balance in Nigeria’s foreign reserves inched to about $39 billion as CBN data revealed that Nigeria now has $38.992 billion as gross balance in the nation’s external reserves.

The CBN has not made do with its promise to prop up the market as it appears to have halted its weekly FX sales

In a different trend, the domestic currency witnessed a flat outcome against the British currency and the Euro in the week’s opening session.

On the Pound Sterling, the local currency closed at N2,153.90/£1 and N1,800.79/€1 on the Euro.

In the parallel market, the local currency depreciated in its value against the British Pound Sterling by N11.69 to sell at N2,213.25/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,201.56/£1 and followed the same pattern against the Euro as it lost N10 to quote at N1,845.29/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,835.29/€1.

The local currency also depreciated further by N8.64 to close at N1,225.82 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Friday’s N1,217.18 per CAD.