FX market records highest ever bid as naira falls

Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday recorded the highest ever bid of N632 per dollar following strong demand by currency dealers at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window.

Consequently, naira weakened by 0.18 percent as the dollar was quoted at N464.51 on Friday as against the last close of N463.67 on Thursday at the official market, data from the FMDQ indicated.

At the parallel market, also known as the black market, naira depreciated by N1 as the dollar traded at N766 on Monday from N765 on Friday.

Last week, the foreign exchange market turnover, which reflects the activity level in the I&E Window declined 9.3 percent w/w to $649.1bn from $716.0bn in the previous month.

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Nigeria’s foreign reserves, which gives the Central Bank of Nigeria the muscle to defend the naira, marginally fell by 4bps or $14.3 million w/w to $35.2 billion as of May 23, 2023.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has in his inaugural speech on Monday signaled a single exchange rate.

Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, welcomes the decision of the new President to put in place a unified exchange rate regime.

He said it should be clarified that this is not a devaluation proposition, rather it is a pricing mechanism that reflects the demand and supply fundamentals in the foreign exchange market which allows for rate adjustments as and when necessary.

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.