Naira falls to N747/$1 at the black market 

The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar at the black market depreciated on Tuesday, trading at an average of N747/$1. This represents a 1.63 per cent fall compared to N735/$1 maintained in the last three trading sessions.

The downturn in the black market was attributed to increased demand for FX as a result of the coming Chinese New Year holiday.

China, which is set to go on holiday between the 21st and 27th of January will close trading activities during the period, hence prompting Nigerian traders to preorder goods ahead of the holiday.

Similarly, the exchange rate at the cryptocurrency P2P exchange depreciated by 0.50 per cent on Tuesday morning to trade at a minimum of N747.7/$1, compared to N743.95/$1 recorded as of the same time on Monday.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the investors and exporters (I&E) window closed at N461.5/$1 on Monday, a 0.09 per cent improvement from N461.9/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.

Forex turnover surged by 175.2 per cent on Monday as a sum of $198.6 million exchanged hands in contrast to $72.18 million that was traded on Friday.

Nigeria’s external reserves however, stood at $37.206 billion as of 13th January 2023, representing a marginal decrease of 0.002 per cent from the $37.206 billion recorded as 12th December 2022, a reversal from the seventh consecutive increase it had recorded.