Gap Between Naira-Dollar Exchange Rates Widen in Black, Official FX Markets

The Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the black market but appreciated in the official market on Tuesday on improved FX supply.

In the black market, the Naira lost N15.02 against the greenback to close at N1,714.35 to the US Dollar compared to N1,699.33/$1 it closed on Monday.

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar pulling a 2.4 percent gain in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) as it gained a value of N40.20 to close the closing session at N1,630.45/$1 at the official window.

According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, compared to N1,670.65/$1 published in the preceding session on Monday.

This indicated a wider gap of N83 between both values at the different segments.

Turnover published on the FMDQ Group website stood at $242.59 million indicating that the session’s turnover rose by 198.9 percent, indicating that there was a decrease of $161.42 million compared to $8.17 million published the previous day.

However, the domestic currency headed south against the British currency during the session as the Naira made a depreciation of N34.26 to wrap the session at N2,161.97/£1 from N2,127.71/£1 that it sold at the previous session.

The local currency also dropped against the Euro as it closed at N1,800.97/€1 versus N1,774.13/€1, indicating a N26.84 depreciation.

The local currency also declined in its value against the British currency in the black market as it dropped by N19.32 to sell at N2,225.24/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,205.92/£1 and followed the same pattern against the Euro as it depreciated N15.38 to quote at N1,856.79/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,841.41/€1.

The local currency dropped N2.31 to close at N1,233.56 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Monday’s N1,231.25 per CAD.

The FX market will be expecting a boost after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it has signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to boost local currency financing for Nigerian businesses, a move that can boost FX supply.

The apex bank disclosed that the collaboration is set to channel over $1 billion in financing across the coming years to drive economic growth, job creation, and diversification across Nigeria.