BUSINESS
Naira drops further at official forex market
Despite lifting the Nigeria’s official foreign exchange market by $250 million on the first trading day of the week (Tuesday), the nation’s currency, Naira, the following day relapsed by one point to close at 365 to the dollar against 364 sold the previous day at the parallel market.
The Naira, also, depreciated at the official foreign exchange market with the closing rate of 305.90 against exchanged rate of N305.8 to the dollar on Tuesday.
The naira, had on Tuesday appreciated against the dollar at N364 per dollar, which was slightly stronger than 365 sold during the holiday, even though it was significantly better than 370 exchanged two weeks ago at the parallel market, Daily Times checks has revealed.
The local currency was seen at 472 to the pound sterling and 432 per euro, weaker than Tuesday closing rates of N470 and N430 traded respectively at the unofficial market.
At the Investors’ and Exporters FX window, the naira opened at 359.96 gaining a total 0.14 per cent, while closing at 360.39 the same rate it traded the preceding day at the autonomous FX window.
The naira, at the bureau de change (BDC) window saw the naira closing at N362 to the dollar, while the pound sterling and the euro traded at N470 and N430.
Meanwhile, the apex bank in the country has continued to inject more foreign exchange into the local market to inflate the value of the green back.
Figures obtained from the CBN indicated that the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segment of the market received the highest intervention with a total of $100 million, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) window received a boost of $80 million while the invisibles segment, comprising Business/Personal Travel Allowances, school tuition, medicals, etc. was allocated the sum of $70 million to meet the demands of customers.
Confirming the figures, the Bank’s spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, noted with delight the recent Quarter 2, 2017 Report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which indicated that Nigeria has gotten out of recession and hinged part of this success to the regular intervention of the Bank in the forex market, to boost liquidity in the market, ensuring timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions and also make forex available to the real sector and industrial capacities, critical to the Nigerian economy.
The Bank had last week injected a total of $547 million into the market. Emefiele had predicted on 23rd May, 2017 that at the end of third quarter 2017, Nigeria would be out of recession. Emefiele had confidently underscored the possibility of the exit based on the obvious positive economic indices such as downward trending inflation rate, improvement in the GDP growth rate, noting that negative growth rate had decelerated quite significantly, coupled with improvement in the quantum of foreign exchange going to the real sector and industrial capacities.
In his prediction, Emefiele had said: “We’ve seen positive signs in various economic sectors, I am very confident that at the end of the third quarter, we will be out of this and I still hold that position”.
The development, coming at the heels of more stable exchange rate regime, coupled with declining inflation rate, from 16.10 per cent in June down to 16.05 per cent in July, 2017, it is believed that these factors will provide salutary macro-economic conditions for growth, as anchored on current monetary policy stance of the CBN.
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