Naira unchanged at official market

Naira, Nigeria’s legal tender closed at N429.38 per dollar, the same rate it closed on the previous day at the official market.

Most currency dealers who participated at the FX auction on Tuesday maintained bids between N417.00 (low) and N444.00 (high) per dollar.

At the parallel market popularly called the black market, the local currency closed at N682 per dollar on Thursday, losing 0.29 percent compared to N680 per dollar closed on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s currency has been on a free fall, losing 20.42 percent in seven months, as it peaked at N710 per dollar from N565 at the beginning of the year at the parallel market.

“To fix Naira, we will need to implement policies that will make the country earn foreign exchange from the following: exports of goods and services, inflows of FX from foreign direct investment, inflows from portfolio investments, foreign remittances. Most of these will happen if we have a conducive environment that protects lives and property,” said Ayodele Akinwunmi, relationship manager, corporate banking at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited.

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Nigeria’s external reserves, which gives the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) the firepower to defend the naira, have lost 3.83 percent in the last seven months from $40.50 billion at the beginning of the year to $38.95 billion as of August 8, 2022, data from the CBN has indicated.

At the money market on Thursday, the Overnight (O/N) rate remained unchanged at 15.00 percent, while the Open Repo (OPR) rate increased by 0.33 percent to close at 15.00 percent compared to 14.67 percent on the previous day, according to a report FSDH Research.

The Nigerian treasury bills secondary market closed on a flat note on Thursday with the average yield across the curve closing flat at 8.23 percent.

Average yields across short-term, medium-term and long-term maturities remained unchanged at 9.47 percent, 7.09 percent, and 8.17 percent, respectively.

The report noted that the Open Market Operation (OMO) bills secondary market closed on a mildly negative note on Thursday, as the average yield across the curve cleared higher by 10 bps to close at 11.27 percent from 11.17 percent on the previous day. Average yield across the long-term maturities expanded by 12 bps. However, average yield across short-term maturities remained unchanged at 11.47 percent. OMO 2-May-23 (+37 bps) maturity bill witnessed selling pressure.

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.