Nigeria’s currency on Thursday reversed about N7.50k gain to exchange at an average rate of N437.50k with the dollar from N430 exchanged on Wednesday on the black market.
The market witnessed an increased demand for dollar from consumers who need the greenback to meet some obligation as uncertainty still grip the market.
More so, panic selling has moderated as traders are now playing watch and ‘wait and watch’ game to see the direction of rates when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sells dollar to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators on Monday.
The CBN on Thursday, August 27, informed the general public that gradual sales of foreign exchange (FX) to licensed BDC operators would commence with effect from September 7, 2020.
Investigation shows that dollar was selling at N435 and black market operators were buying at N430 at both Lagos International airport and Festac area of Lagos.
Dollar sold for N440 at Apapa and Eko Hotel black market where the operators were buying at N432 at Eko and N430 at Apapa area of Lagos.
The local currency strengthened at the retail bureau by N10 as the dollar traded at N455 on Thursday from N465 traded the previous day.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, the market opened with an indicative rate of N386.48k on Thursday, which was a depreciation of N0.40k when compared to N386.08k opened with on Wednesday, data from FMDQ revealed.
The market closed with naira losing N0.25k as the dollar was quoted at N386.25k on Thursday from N386.00k closed since Tuesday, at the I&E window. Analysts at FSDH said most participants maintained bids between N380.00 and N395.13 per dollar.
The value of Nigeria’s currency improved further on Wednesday by N10 as the cost of dollar dropped to N430 (selling) compared to N440 traded on Tuesday on the black market.
At the money market NT-Bills market closed on a negative note with average yield across the curve increasing by 4 bps to close at 2.13 percent from 2.09 percent on the previous day. The average yield across medium-term maturities widened by 17 bps, while average yields across short-term and long-term maturities remained unchanged at 1.22 percent and 3.18 percent, respectively. Selling pressure was witnessed in the NTB 11-Feb-21 (+79 bps) and NTB 28-Jan-21 (+29 bps) maturity bills, while buying interest was seen only in the NTB 14-Jan-21 maturity bill with a decline in yield of 21 bps, according to a report by FSDH.
In the Open Market Operation (OMO) bills market, the average yield across the curve declined by 15 bps to close at 2.77 percent as against the last close of 2.92 percent. Buying interest was witnessed across short-term and medium-term maturities with average yields falling by 28 bps and 10 bps, respectively. However, the average yield across long-term maturities increased by 2 bps. Yields on 9 bills declined with the 10-Sep-20 maturity bill registering the highest yield decline of 188 bps, while yields on 5 bills advanced with the 24-Nov-20 maturity bill recording the highest yield increase of 103 bps.
