The Nigerian Naira appreciated against its global counterparts in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s regulated foreign exchange market.
The local currency appreciated by N0.16 against the United States Dollar from N416.08 on Friday to N415.92 on Wednesday. Against the Pound Sterling, the Naira was exchanged at N527.68 and N444.04 to a European common currency.
Naira to Dollar at the Black Market
In the unregulated parallel market, popularly known as the black market, the Naira remained under pressure at N580/$1 in Ibadan and other states. The CBN has warned Nigerians against patronising the unregulated forex market and blamed the operators for the nation’s forex challenges
Foreign Reserves
Foreign reserves declined by $97.705 million $39.814 billion recorded on April 21, 2022 to $39.714 billion on Monday, April 4, 2022. Despite the surge in oil prices due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Nigeria’s foreign reserves continue to hover below $40 billion.
Oil theft and dilapidated infrastructure are some of the challenges hurting Nigeria’s ability to boost crude oil production and take advantage of the increase in crude oil prices.
Crude Oil
Oil rebounded slightly on Wednesday after Russia halted natural gas supplies to Bulgeria and Poland. Brent crude, the international benchmark for Nigerian type of oil, pared losses to $105.24 a barrel while the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil inched higher to $101.50 per barrel.
Crude oil prices dropped on Monday on rising COVID-19 cases in China but reversed losses after Russia had demanded Poland and Bulgaria paid for gas in Roubles. The Putin-led government announced the ban on gas exports to the two nations starts today.
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies extended their declines across the board on Wednesday as capital inflow into the cryptocurrency space dropped with growing uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve rate increase.
Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate dropped 2.73% in the last 24 hours to N23.199 million per coin. Against the Eth, Ethereum token, the Naira gained 3.17% to N1.719 million.
