Naira Drops 0.09% Against Dollar at I&E Forex Window

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

It was a bad week for the Nigerian currency at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) foreign exchange window.

The local currency suffered a 0.09 percent loss against the Dollar at the market segment, closing at N360.32/$.

This decline was amid the weekly injections by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of $210 million into the forex market.

A look at the intervention showed that $100 million was allocated to Wholesale (SMIS), $55 million to the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and $55 million also to the invisibles segment to cater for medical bills, school fees, travel allowances and others.

According to Cowry Asset, the Naira also depreciated at the parallel market by 0.28 percent to N363/$.

However, the Naira/Dollar rate remained unchanged at the interbank foreign exchange market and the Bureau De Change segments at N330/$ and N360/$ respectively.

Meanwhile, all dated forward contracts at the interbank over-the-counter (OTC) segment appreciated amid a 0.51 percent w-o-w increase in external reserves to $46.75 billion – spot rate, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 6 months contracts fell by 0.02 percent, 0.01 percent, 0.10 percent, 0.18 percent and 0.70 percent to close N305.55/$, N363.72/$, N367.24/$, N370.73/$ and N382.85/$ respectively.

This week, Cowry Asset expects stability in exchange rate amid further accretion to the external reserves as global oil prices retain its upbeat and CBN continues with the weekly intervention.