Demand Pressure Weakens Naira At Official FX Market

The Naira fell 8.3 percent against the US Dollar at the official market, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), as the local currency exchanged for the US Dollar at N1,669.15/$1 on Tuesday, October 2.

This meant the local currency slid by N127.21 from N1,541.94/$1 it closed at the previous session on Monday.

The official market was closed on Tuesday for the country’s 64th Independence Day.

As the fourth quarter commences, demand for FX has surged but 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.

Secondary data showed that there was a decrease in daily supply as the midweek turnover published on the FMDQ Group website stood at $176.45 million, indicating that the session’s turnover dipped by 2.9 percent or $5.41 million compared to $181.86 million published in the last trading session.

The local currency was flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro as it wrapped the session at N2,143.65/£1 and N1,789.71/€1, respectively.

At the black market, the Naira was relatively flat against the Dollar as it retained the recent trading value of N1,656.

In a different outcome, it pulled a N3 gain on the Pound Sterling at the segment to sell at N2,158/£1 from N2,161/€1 and also added N3 on the Euro to wrap the midweek session at N1,844/€1 from N1,847/€1.

The Naira weakened on the Canadian Dollar by N5 to end the day at N1,220/CAD from N1,215/CAD quoted on Tuesday.