Nigeria’s currency on Wednesday steadied across foreign exchange markets as liquidity improves.

The daily foreign exchange market turnover rose by 359.44 percent to $148.54 million from $32.33 million recorded on Tuesday, data from the FMDQ indicated.

At the black market and Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market, naira remained unchanged at N485 per dollar.

The local currency also steadied at N409.75k to the dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window on Wednesday.

Currency traders who participated in the trading on Wednesday maintained bids at between N394.00k and N412.00k/$.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) maintained its periodic interventions in the foreign exchange market to boost liquidity, enhance access to foreign exchange, curb unbridled demand and ensure stable exchange rate.

During the fourth quarter of 2020, total foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers by the CBN stood at US$5.62 billion, an increase of 28.7 percent above the level in the preceding quarter, according to the CBN’s economic report for the fourth quarter of 2020.

This was attributed, largely, to the increased interventions in the BDC and I&E windows during the quarter. The total foreign exchange sales, however, saw a decrease of 46.1 per cent below the level in the corresponding quarter of 2019.

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Further disaggregation showed that BDC sales and I&E sales rose to US$1.36 billion and US$1.62 billion from US$0.34 billion and US$0.39 billion, respectively, in the preceding quarter.

Similarly, Interbank sales and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) intervention increased by 12.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent to US$0.16 billion and US$0.31 billion, respectively, from the levels in the preceding quarter.

The Secondary market Intervention Sales (SMIS) and matured swap transactions, however, fell by 12.8 per cent and 62.9 per cent to US$1.71 billion and US$0.46 billion, relative to the levels in the preceding quarter.

Provisional data on the sectoral foreign exchange utilisation in the fourth quarter of 2020 showed an increase of 74.6 per cent above the level in the preceding quarter to US$6.68 billion. Of this, visible and invisible imports rose by 68.8 and 82.8 per cent to US$3.75 billion and US$2.93 billion, constituting 56.1 and 43.9 per cent of the total foreign exchange utilisation, respectively.

A disaggregation of foreign exchange utilisation for visible transactions showed that the amount utilised for industrial sector, manufactured products, food products, oil, transport, agricultural and mineral sub-sectors were US$1.72 billion, US$0.80 billion, US$0.67 billion, US$0.31 billion, US$0.13 billion, US$0.07 billion and US$0.04 billion, respectively.

Further analysis of the foreign exchange utilisation under the invisibles component showed that financial services was US$2.52 billion (37.8 per cent of the total); business services, US$0.17 billion (2.5 per cent); educational services, US$0.09 billion (1.4 per cent); other services not included elsewhere, US$0.05 billion (0.8 per cent); and transport services, US$0.04 billion (0.7 per cent).

Furthermore, communication services was US$45.80 million (0.7 per cent), while health related and social services gulped US$0.32 million (0.01 per cent).

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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