Naira Gains 0.05% at I&E, Loses 0.08% at Interbank, Flat at BDC

By Dipo Olowookere

The local currency traded mixed against the United States Dollar at the various segments of the foreign exchange (forex) market this week.

Specifically, at the close of the trading week, the NGN/USD exchange rate, according to Cowry Asset, remained unchanged at both the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment and the parallel market to close at N359/$ and N362/$ respectively.

This was as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued with its weekly intervention of which the sum of $210 million was injected by CBN into the foreign exchange market via the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).

A breakdown of the intervention showed that $100 million was allocated to Wholesale SMIS, $55 million was allocated to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, while $55 million was sold for invisibles.

At the close of the week, the Naira gained against the Dollar at the Investors & Exporters Forex Window (I&E FXW) by 0.05 percent to close at N363.84.

However, the local currency fell by 0.08 percent to N362.82/$ at the interbank foreign exchange market.

Meanwhile, most dated foreign exchange forward contracts at the interbank over-the-counter (OTC) segment appreciated – 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 6 months gained 0.07 percent, 0.06 percent, 0.04 percent and 0.07 percent to close at N367.26/$, N370.69/$, N374.08/$ and N384.99/$ respectively.

However, spot and 1-year rates depreciated by 0.02 percent and 048 percent to close at N306.55/$ and N411.87/$ respectively.