Naira appreciates against Dollar by 65 points in one week

The nation’s currency, the Naira on Friday continued its gaining form to record total points of 65 in one week, with a closing rate of N460 against N525 it traded previous Friday at the parallel market.

The Naira, which has been on a path of recovery, also strengthened against the Pound Sterling and the Euro exchanged at 575 against 600 and 480 they traded at 510, respectively at the parallel market.

The local currency had appreciated a total gain of 30 points, closing at N495 against N525 sold last Friday at the parallel market.

Business Times, however, observed that since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the new foreign exchange policy action, the Nigerian currency has appreciated significantly on the parallel market.

Also, the local currency at the official foreign exchange appreciated to 305.5 against 305.50, but fell slightly against pound sterling from 381.57 to 383.43 and 322.76 to 324.07 per Euro.

At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira closed at N399 to a dollar CBN controlled price, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro exchanged at N610 and N520 respectively.

Traders at the market expected the Naira to sell for less than N300 to a dollar if the boost in liquidity by the CBN is sustained.

The naira has been gaining dramatically, since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced fresh policy actions to make the dollar readily available for travellers and Nigerians schooling abroad.

The CBN has since pumped nearly $500 million dollars into the forex market, sending the parallel market into unexpected trading territories.

With the high possibility of more liquidity injection by the CBN, forex traders anticipate further appreciation of the naira.

Although, they believed that the $1.5 million sold by the apex bank on the interbank market at 305 per dollar on Friday boosted liquidity in the market.

This helped push the naira to 460 on the black market, its highest level in more than three months, following several interventions by the central bank on the official market.