Naira closes at N1,579.22/$ on official market as dollar supply rise

The naira on Monday recorded a gain on the official foreign exchange (FX) market, closing at N1,579.22 as the dollar supply increased by 41.45 per cent.

This represents a marginal gain of 0.04 per cent compared to N1,579.89 closed on Friday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited indicated.

The dollar supplied by willing buyers and willing sellers rose by 41.45 per cent to $162.99 million on Monday from $115.23 million on Friday at NAFEM.

According to the market summary released by the FMDQ, the intraday high closed at N1,601.50 per dollar on Monday compared to N1,606 closed on Friday. The intraday low was quoted at N1,470 on Monday as against N1,495 quoted on Friday, the data indicated.

The local currency closed at N1,600 to N1,605 per dollar on the parallel market, also known as the black market.

Last week, the exchange rate at the NAFEM window closed the week 0.36 per cent weaker against the US dollar at N1,579.89/US$1 from N1,574.20/US$1 the previous week, according to a report by Coronation Asset Management. This brought its year-to-date depreciation against the greenback to 42.58 per cent (42.38% the previous week). The parallel market rate appreciated to N1,600.00/US$1 from N1,605.00/US$1.

The CBN’s published gross foreign exchange reserves closed the week negative, shedding US$301.32m to US$36.53bn.