Naira Loses 2.7% on Dollar at NAFEX, Gains N6 to N1,711/$1 at Parallel Market

The Naira fell by 2.7 percent on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to exchange at N1,675.49/$1 on Thursday, October 311 as the local currency depreciated despite a slight increase in supply.

In the official market, the domestic currency lost N44.32 on the American currency in the official market versus N1,631.17/$1, which it closed in the previous session on Wednesday.

In a turn of fortune, the Naira rose N6.66 against the greenback in the parallel market segment to close at N1,711.77 to the US Dollar compared to N1,718.43/$1 it closed on Wednesday.

Data showed a rise in supply as the turnover published on the FMDQ Group website stood at $166.61 million indicating that the session’s turnover jumped by 29.2 per cent, indicating a rise of $37.63 million compared to $128.98 million that was published in the last trading session.

Equally, the Naira weakened its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N3.75 to sell at N2,147.15/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,143.40/£1.

It followed the same path against the Euro, depreciating N9.29 to quote at N1,791.36/€1 versus midweek’s closing rate of N1,782.07/€1.

In a different outcome in the black market, the domestic currency headed up against the British currency during the Thursday session as the Naira made an appreciation of N10.86 to wrap the session at N2,223.76/£1 from N2,234.62/£1 that it sold at the previous session.

However, the Naira followed a different pattern against the Euro as it depreciated N12.51 to close at N1,867.07/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,854.56/€1.

The local currency gained a marginal 9 Kobo to close at N1,235.61 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Wednesday’s N1,235.70 per CAD.

Investors King reports that the Nigerian macro environment is placing pressure on the FX market with latest data showing that there is a high money supply in the system complemented by a wider government budget deficit.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that Nigeria’s money supply often known as M3 grew 62.8 percent in the last one year to N109 trillion from N66.9 trillion in September 2023.