Naira at I& E FX window depreciates by 0.02%
By Olaleye Anuoluwapo-Abuja
Naira at Investors & Exporters (I&E) Foreign Exchange window depreciated by 0.02 per cent on Monday to close at N414.40 against the dollar.
The local currency at the specialized investors and exporters’ window also closed down by 0.07per cent against the euro to N477.12 while it closed up against the pound by 0.02per cent at N561.22.
The exchange rate between the naira and the dollar closed at N414.30/$1, at the I& E window last Friday.
Naira appreciated against the dollar on Friday, for the second time last week to close at N414.30 against the dollar, representing a 0.09per cent gain compared to N414.67/$1 recorded on last Thursday.
The foreign exchange turnover at the I & E FX window closed on Monday at $184.31 million.
The foreign exchange turnover at the official window rose sharply by 189.1per cent on Friday.
The FMDQ, foreign exchange turnover increased from $124.35 million recorded on Thursday to $359.48 million on last Friday.
According to analysts at InvestmentOne research, “Going forward, we expect the FX market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies.”
Meanwhile, the Money market rates decreased as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates declined by 400b and 383basis points to close at 10per cent and 10.67per cent respectively.
The bonds market traded on a neutral note today as yields closed flat on most maturities. The yields on the 5yr and 7yr benchmark bonds closed flat at 10.70 per cent, 11.75 per cent and 11.99 per cent respectively.
However, the nation’s foreign reserve gained $192 million on last Thursday to close at $38.184 billion compared to $37.992 billion recorded as of the previous day. The latest increase represents a 0.51% increase in the country’s foreign reserve.
The reserve gained a record $2.76 billion in the month of September 2021, while the recent gain puts the year-to-date gain at $2.81 billion. It is also worth noting that Nigeria’s reserve has gained over $1.39 billion in just 4 days into October 2021.
The recent increase in the reserve position, which has continued since 25th of August, is in line with recent reports suggesting that Nigeria’s foreign reserve position could grow as high as $40 billion by the end of September 2021.
Although the reserves did not hit $40 billion as predicted in the previous month, it continues to record positive growth and could cross the predicted line by the end of the month, if it maintains this trajectory.
The reserve is further boosted by the receipt of $3.35 billion special drawing rights (SDR) allocation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which the Federal Government hopes to use to reduce budget deficit.
