I&E FX window records weekly volume growth of 142.81%

Nigeria’s Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX window reached new highs in the week-ended July 28, 2017, with a record $822.73 million total trade which indicates 142.81 percent increase from $340.24 million recorded in the preceding week.

This remarkable weekly growth helped to bring the total volume traded at the I&E FX window since its inception to $5.42 billion, FX market analysis shows.

In the week ended August 4, 2017, the I&E FX window closed at $/N366.44, revealing a spread of just $/N2.94 between the I&E FX window rate and the BDC rate.

On the other hand, the spread between the BDC and the CBN official exchange rates rose by $/N0.60 to $/N57.95, representing a 1.05 percent increase from the spread of $/N57.35 recorded for the preceding week ended July 28, 2017.

The exchange rate in the BDC market closed at $/N363.50, a marginal decrease of 0.14 percent from the rate reported the preceding week ended July 28, 2017.

The CBN official rate also fell $/N1.10 to close at $/N305.55, indicating a 0.36 percent decrease when compared to $/N306.65 reported at the end of the previous week-ended July 28, 2017.

In the OTC FX Futures market, $55.63 million was traded in nine (9) deals, compared to the preceding week’s total of $242.84 million, traded in eleven (11) deals.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued its supply of dollars in the FX market, offering $100 million at a marginal rate of $/N320 through a single Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) – Wholesale session held during the week ended August 4, 2017.

The apex bank also sold $50 million for Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises and $45 million for Retail Invisibles transactions.

For the week-ended July 28, 2017, trading activity in the Spot FX market between the banks and their clients stood at $1.102 billion (average daily turnover of $220.46m), representing a 102.50 percent increase from the $544.34 million (average daily turnover of $108.87m), recorded in the previous week.

Activity in the Spot FX market amongst banks for the same trading week revealed a 213.58 percent increase, as a total turnover of $380.94 million (average daily turnover of $76.19m) was recorded against the $121.48 million (average daily turnover of $24.29m) reported the previous week.