• Friday, May 10, 2024
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BusinessDay

Naira gains 0.66% after CBN governor’s suspension

Flush with cash, banks boost lending

Naira on Tuesday gained 0.66 percent against the dollar at the parallel market following low demand as speculators adopt a wait-and-see approach, after the suspension of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

After trading on Tuesday, the dollar was quoted at N755 compared to N760 quoted during the morning trading and last week Friday, at the black market.

President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, suspended Godwin Emefiele, following the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

“There is no demand for dollars, people are not buying because they are speculating that the dollar will fall following the CBN governor’s suspension,” a trader told BusinessDay.

The official exchange rate was not available on Tuesday at the time of writing this report as the FMDQ was yet to update the rate on its website.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX window on Friday, naira fell to N472.50, against the dollar, lowest ever recorded since the market was created in 2017.

This represents 0.63 percent (N3) when compared to N469.50/$1 quoted on Thursday at the official foreign exchange market.

Read also: Naira, stocks cool after Tinubu rally

Most currency traders who participated at the foreign exchange auction on Friday maintained bids between N460/$1, lower and N477.00/$1, higher.

At the money market on Tuesday, minimal activities were seen on the treasury bills space, though with a bullish bias. Pockets of demand were seen across the curve, with wide bid/ask spread on them. The session then closed with a significant number of trades executed on the December and March NTBs, according to a report by Parthian Partners Limited, Africa’s premier inter-dealer broker.

The report noted that little or no interest was seen on the special bill space, as the market was awash with offers. Few birds seen were far off from offer; hence, low volumes traded were in June-September.