Nigeria’s currency Naira on Wednesday steadied at N498 to the dollar on the parallel market and may likely close the week at N500/$ as demand pressure persist amid shortage.

Already, dollar transfer was quoted at N500 in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday. At the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment, naira also remained stable at N495 per dollar since May 29, 2021.

Over 5,000 BDCs across the country funded their accounts on Wednesday in anticipation of dollar disbursement from the CBN on Thursday. The CBN sells $10,000 twice weekly to BDCs.

Naira has continued to depreciate on the parallel market due to the adoption of the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) of N410.25k as official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

With the current rate, naira has lost 3.31 percent compared to N482 per dollar it traded on April 19, 2021, data tracked by BusinessDay from the FMDQ showed.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, naira appreciated by 0.23 percent as the dollar was quoted at N411.06 on Wednesday compared to N412.00k quoted on Tuesday, data from the FMDQ showed.

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Currency traders who participated in the trading session on Wednesday maintained bids at between N400 and N420.33k per dollar.

The foreign exchange market daily turnover declined by 19.66 percent to $100.77 million on Tuesday from $156.06 million on Monday, data from the FMDQ indicated.

At the money market on Wednesday, the Nigerian Treasury bills secondary market closed on a flat note, with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 6.10 percent, according to a report by FSDH Research.

Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 3.99 percent, 5.45 percent, and 7.97 percent, respectively.

The Overnight (O/N) rate increased by 2.17 percent to close at 14.83 percent on Wednesday as against the last close of 12.66 percent on Tuesday, and the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate increased by 2.33 percent to close at 14.33 percent from 12.00 percent on the previous day.

In the Open Market Operation (OMO) bills market, the average yield across the curve decreased by 6 bps to close at 9.81 percent on Wednesday as against the last close of 9.87 percent on Tuesday. Buying interest was seen across long-term maturities with the average yield declining by 11 bps. However, the average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities remained unchanged at 9.37 percent and 9.79 percent, respectively. Yields on 3 bills compressed with the 15-Feb-22 maturity bill recording the highest yield decrease of 59 bps, while yields on 20 bills remained unchanged.

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.

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