Naira appreciated by 30.3% against dollar in 10 months

The naira has appreciated by 30.3 per cent since February when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began its aggressive interventions at the foreign exchange market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The Nigerian currency had exchanged at N520 to the dollar at the peak of onslaughts by currency speculators before the CBN stated intervening by injecting foreign exchange in the market.

The CBN injection of over 3.6 billion dollars to meet the demand for foreign exchange resulted in the convergence of rates at the parallel market and the Bureau De Change segments.

The apex bank’s intervention led to the current flattening of the rate at 362.5 to the dollar at the parallel market.

Prof Sheriffdeen Tella, a Senior Economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun, said that the CBN interventions were made possible by the increase in the price of oil at the international market.

Tella said that the crude oil production output of two million barrels per day also meant more money for the nation.

He, however, that the recent production cut by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to 1.8 million barrels per day might affect the nation’s crude oil earnings.

He urged the CBN to continue to intervene at the official foreign exchange market market sustain the appreciation of the naira across board.