Naira weakens against dollar as FX turnover rises by 445.9% -

The Open Market Operation (OMO) market recorded no sales to the N70 billion bill offered to investors by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on

Nigeria’s currency on Thursday weakened against the dollar across all foreign exchange markets as liquidity squeeze persisted.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, naira depreciated by N1.50k as the dollar was quoted at N388.00k on Thursday as against N386.50k that was quoted on Wednesday, data from FMDQ revealed.

Most participants maintained bids between N380.00k and N390.89 per dollar, analysts at FSDH Research said on Thursday.

The market opened with an indicative rate of N387.96k on Thursday morning, which signalled N0.21k depreciation when compared with N387.75k opened with on Wednesday.

The foreign exchange daily turnover rose by 445.9 percent to $102.13 million on Thursday from $18.71 million on Wednesday.

At the black market and retail bureau, naira lost N1.00k each as the dollar was sold at N468 and N469, respectively, on Wednesday compared to N467 and N468 traded on the previous day.

The NT-bills market closed on a positive note on Thursday, with average yield across the curve declining by 9 bps to close at 1.83 percent.

The CBN held its scheduled Primary Market Auction on July 15, selling NT-Bills worth N107.05 billion across the 91-day (N8.85 billion), 182-day (N26.60 billion), and 364-day (N71.60 billion) tenors. The stop rates for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors cleared lower at 1.300 percent (-49 bps), 1.800 percent (-11 bps), and 3.350 percent (-4 bps), respectively. The auction was oversubscribed by 77 percent with bid-to-cover ratios settling at 4.73x (91-day), 2.37x (182-day), and 1.32x (364-day).

A report by FSDH Research noted that in the OMO bills market, average yield across the curve declined by 3 bps to close at 5.70 percent.

The FGN bond market closed on a positive note Thursday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared lower by 9 bps to close at 4.14 percent.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Thursday released its FGN Bonds Issuance Calendar for the third quarter of 2020, with a deepening of the sovereign curve by the introduction of a new 25-year bond as a 4th tenor on offer. Furthermore, the DMO is expected to offer bonds worth between N340-N460 billion during the quarter through re-opening of 5-year (N60-N90 billion), 15-year (N90-N120 billion), and 30-year (N90-N120 billion) tenors, including the new issue of the 25-year tenor (N100-N130 billion).

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Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.