The foreign exchange trading week ended on Friday, June 11, 2021, with the Naira stronger in value than the dollar at the official window despite low liquidity.
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At the end of the trading week, the Naira closed at N410.80k per dollar, gaining 0.06 percent compared to the opening rate of N411.07k at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window data from the FMDQ indicated.
On a Week-on-Week basis, Naira gained 0.24 percentage points from 0.30 percent in the previous week to 0.06 percent.
The foreign exchange market daily turnover closed the week with a decline of 38.70 percent to $92.78 million on Friday from $151.37 million on the opening trading day.
Naira depreciated by 0.08 percent to N411.07k per dollar on Monday as against N410.75k closed on Friday, data from the FMDQ showed.
Nigeria’s currency on Tuesday weakened by 0.10 percent as the dollar was quoted at N411.50k compared to N411.07k quoted on Monday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX).
On Wednesday, Naira closed at N410.95k per dollar, representing an N0.55k gain from N411.50k traded on Tuesday at the NAFEX window.
The local currency depreciated by N0.88k to close at N411.83k on Thursday as against N410.95k closed on Wednesday at the same market.
At the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market, Naira closed stable after firming by 0.40 percent to close at N498 per dollar on Wednesday as against N500/$ on Tuesday. Naira steadied at N500 per dollar since the week at the black market.
BDC directors have reiterated commitment to ensuring stable exchange rates and sound corporate governance practices.
This was part of resolutions made at the end of an exclusive meeting of BDC directors organised by the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) in Lagos.
The BDC directors also expressed support for the proposed ABCON Task Force Committee to monitor compliance by operators.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured of an increase in foreign exchange allocation to banks to boost liquidity and meet customers’ requests, particularly for travel allowances, payment of tuition, and medical fees, among other invisibles.
On Thursday after the bankers’ committee meeting, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, managing director/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc noted the CBN’s instruction to all banks to make sure there is the availability of FX at all times for anybody who want to buy Business Travel Allowance (BTA), Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), medical fees, student school fees, and all the eligible invisible purchases, to ensure that Nigerians are not forced to go and use the parallel market.
“What we have been instructed to do is to ensure that we do not turn anybody back and that we should request from the CBN once we exhaust the stock we have. So this very good news and the idea is to have a hitch-free summer period and resumption of schools for children to go back to school. So the idea is to ensure that there is less pressure on the FX and then the rates will come down,” she said.
Throwing more light on this, Herbart Wgwe, group managing director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, said the committee highlighted the need for banks to support SMEs who import small raw materials to set up their businesses.
