Naira Falls to N1,658.97/$1 at Official Market, Gains at Black Market

The Naira weakened to N1,658.97 per Dollar on Tuesday, October 15 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) as the local currency fell by N106.05 or 6.8 percent to close at N1,658.97/$1 compared with Monday’s closing rate of N1,552.92/$1.

The daily supply of FX as measured by secondary data from FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited indicated that turnover slumped by $125.85 million or 36.6 percent to $217.86 million from $343.71 million.

The fall in the local currency came as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the headline inflation rate for September 2024 which showed that the Consumer Price Index rose to 32.70 percent.

This represents an increase of 0.55 percent from the August 2024 figure of 32.15 percent, after inflation dropped consecutively in the previous two months of July and August.

“In September 2024, the Headline inflation rate was 32.70% relative to the August 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.15%. Looking at the movement, the September 2024 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.55% compared to the August 2024 Headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 5.98% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (26.72%). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-onyear basis) increased in September 2024 when compared to the year-on-year in the preceding year (i.e., September 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, which was 0.30% higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.22%). This means that in September 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2024,” the NBS report said.

Meanwhile it was a different outcome in the Parallel market, the Naira gained on the American currency as it closed at N1,663.71 to the US Dollar, a rise of N9.84 compared to N1,673.55/$1 it closed during the Wednesday trading session.

The Naira strengthened its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N16.41 to sell at N2,120.95/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,137.36/£1 and followed the same pattern against the Euro as it appreciated N13.39 to quote at N1,816.43/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,829.82/€1.

The local currency also appreciated N4.07 to close at N1.197.59 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Monday’s N1,201.66 per CAD.