Naira falls at official market despite rise in dollar liquidity

Naira fell by 4.58 percent at the official foreign exchange (FX) market despite an increase of 21.10 percent in dollar liquidity on Wednesday.

After trading on Wednesday, one dollar was quoted at N904.65, weaker than N865.03 quoted on Tuesday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), data from the FMDQ indicated.

The daily foreign exchange market turnover, which reflects the volume of dollars transacted at the official market, increased by 21.10 percent to $120.89 million on Wednesday from $99.09 million recorded on Tuesday.

Willing buyers and willing sellers quoted dollars as high as N1,186 and a lower bid rate of N720.50 as a spot rate.

Read also Naira redesign policy crushed farmers – Agric Minister

At the money market, the Nigerian treasury bills (NT-Bills) secondary market closed on a mildly positive note on Wednesday, with the average yield across the curve decreasing by one basis point to 11.20 per cent from 11.21 per cent on the previous day, according to a market report by FSDH research.

The report noted that average yields across medium-term and long-term maturities declined by one basis point each. However, the average yield across the short-term maturities remained unchanged.

The Overnight (O/N) rate increased by 1.98 percent to close at 18.19 percent as against the last close of 16.21 percent, and the Open Repo (OPR) rate increased by 1.48 percent to close at 17.19 percent compared to 15.71 percent on the previous day.