Naira remains stable at N483 on black market

The foreign exchange market closed on Tuesday with Nigeria’s currency stable at N483 per dollar on the black market.

However, naira weakened by N2 at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment as the dollar was traded at N482 on Tuesday as against N480 traded on Monday.

The foreign exchange market has been under pressure since March 2020 following a sharp drop in oil prices as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, the local currency appreciated by 0.13 percent as the dollar was quoted at N385.50 as against the last close of N386.00.

Earlier the market opened with an indicative rate of N385.96k on Tuesday, representing a marginal appreciation of N0.09k when compared with N386.05k opened with on Monday.

Analysts at FSDH research noted that most participants maintained bids between N383.00k and N394.83k per dollar.

The daily forex turnover increased significantly by 257.48 percent to $163.87 million on Tuesday from $45.84 million recorded on Monday, data from FMDQ stated.

At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja on Monday and Tuesday, the committee noted a moderate decline in the external reserves position, which stood at US$35.18 billion as of November 19, 2020, compared with US$35.95 billion at end-September 2020, as crude oil prices continue to fluctuate with downward pressure.