Naira slides against dollar across market segments

The naira on Thursday depreciated in value across market segments of the foreign exchange market due to strong demand by importers and other end users.

Consequently, naira lost N1 or 0.45 percent against the dollar at the Bureau de Change segment closing at N225/$ compared with N224/$ the previous day.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency weakened slightly against the greenback by N0.21k or 0.11 percent.

After trading on Thursday, it closed at N198.92k/$ as against N198.71k/$ the previous day at the interbank market, data from FMDQ have revealed.

Also at the parallel market, naira lost N0.50k or 0.22 percent against the dollar as it closed at N226/$ on Thursday from N225.50k/$ on Wednesday.

Against other currencies, it closed at 337 and 339 pounds at the BDC segment and parallel market as against 338 and 340 the previous day, respectively.

It closed at 250 and 252 euro at the BDC segment and parallel market, respectively, on Thursday from 250 and 251 euro on Wednesday, respectively at the same market segment.

However, Kemi Adeosun, ministerial nominee representing Ogun State, has backed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) foreign exchange policies, saying currency devaluation on its own won’t solve the nation’s economic problems.

She said what the CBN governor had done was bring in some breathing space because if the market was allowed to continue, the country’s reserves would had been depleted.

President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Adeosun, a former investment banker and London-trained accountant, as a cabinet minister, without disclosing what portfolio she may lead.

Analysts including Bismarck Rewane of the Financial Derivatives Company in Lagos, and Manji Cheto, vice president of risk adviser Teneo Intelligence in London, said she might be finance minister, given her position as finance commissioner of Ogun State in South West of Nigeria for the past four years, Bloomberg reports.

Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has resisted pressure from investors and fellow policy makers to devalue the naira despite a plunge in oil revenue, introducing foreign-exchange controls instead to stabilise the currency. The naira has averaged 198.99 per dollar since the restrictions were imposed in February.