Naira at I & E FX market closes flat
By Kayode Tokede
Naira at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange (I & E FX) window closed flat against the Dollar at N410.00 on Thursday.
The local currency at the IEFX window gained by 0.01per cent and 0.39 per cent the Euro and Pound Sterling closing at N492.37 and N567.82 respectively.
According to the FMDQ, a foreign exchange turnover of $108.04 million was traded by the Investors & Exporters on Thursday.
At the parallel market the Naira lost marginally by 0.17per cent against the Euro to close at N578, while it closed flat against the Dollar and Pound Sterling at N486 and 670 respectively.
Our correspondent gathered that Naira at the interbank market of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) traded flat at N379 against the Dollar.
The CBN had given assurances to exporters that they will continue to have unfettered access to their export proceeds.
This disclosure was made by the Governor of CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, during a virtual presentation at Zenith Bank’s 2021 Export Seminar, on Thursday.
Emefiele, however, in his statement, urged the exporters to reciprocate the good gestures of the central bank by repatriating their funds back to the country.
He said that supporting greater trade within Africa and the global community is vital to the CBN’s objectives of enabling greater economic growth and creating employment opportunities for the country’s growing population.
Emefiele said there is a strong push for the diversification of the Nigerian economy as the coronavirus outbreak has impacted negatively on global oil prices in 2020, which led to a huge drop in the country’s foreign exchange earnings and government revenue.
The CBN boss was optimistic that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) will provide opportunities for the Nigerian private sector to expand into new markets and seek new export opportunities, particularly in the area of manufacturing, ICT, agriculture and financial services.
Meanwhile, the money market rates were up as the Open Buy Back and Overnight rates rose by 167basis points and 117basis points printing at 14.67 per cent and 15.17 per cent respectively.
The bond market was broadly negative as yields on the 7-year and 10-year benchmark bonds rose by five basis points and 40 basis points to close at 12.43per cent and 12.70per cent respectively. Conversely, the yield on the 5-year benchmark bond was down by four basis points to close at 11.89per cent.
“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation,” analysts at Investment One research said.
