BUSINESS
Naira depreciates to 366/$1 at parallel market
After sustaining gained points for two days, Naira on Thursday relapsed to 366 per US dollar, against 365 sold on Tuesday and Wednesday at the parallel market.
The naira, at the end of yesterday market activities on the Investor & Exporter FX widow, recorded a significant drop in the daily turnover, while compared$53.13 million daily turnover with $162.26 million stood on Wednesday and $96.03 million traded on Tuesday, data obtained from the FMDQ OTC has revealed.
The FX window, however, opened Thursday trading activity at an improved rate of $366.79 against 367.46 of Wednesday but lower than 366.70 opened on Tuesday, but remained steady at the closure of the window at 367.50, the rate it traded the previous day.
Against an increase of $66.23million recorded on Wednesday, while compared traded figure of $162.26 million to $96.03 million exchanged on Tuesday, the 1&E FX window showed a significant decline of $109.13 million on Thursday.
The local currency the unofficial segment of the foreign exchange market had closed at 367 to the dollar on first trading day of the week but rebounded the following day to stood at 365, and retained the rate on Wednesday, however suffered a slight loss of one point at the end of yesterday trading, to record new rate of 366 per dollar.
The local currency, also, fell against two other major foreign currencies at the parallel market; closing at 477 and 430 respectively compared to 476 and 42 exchanged the previous day.
But at the official foreign exchange market, the naira, sustained depreciated rate of 305.55 sold on Wednesday against 305.50 closed on Tuesday and Monday, showing a drop of 0.02 per cent. Meanwhile, the nation’s currency in circulation continued to drop in 2017 following the apex Bank intensive effort to mop liquidity in the economy to reduce inflation and sustain its stability.
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FG) through its central bank has been raising money through its financial instruments but that the largest economy in Africa is planning to refinance $3 billion worth of treasury bills denominated in the local currency with dollar borrowing to lower costs and improve its debt position, the finance minister said on Wednesday, as Africa’s top economy recovers from a recession.
Kemi Adeosun announced the shift after a cabinet meeting in which the spending plan for 2018-2020 was approved. Budget minister Udoma Udo Udoma told the same news conference that the government’s economic growth projection for next year had been revised down to 3.5 percent from 4.8 percent.
Dollars have been in short supply in Nigeria since the price of crude oil, the main source of hard currency, plunged in mid-2014, triggering a currency crisis, an exodus of foreign investors and its first recession in 25 years.
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