Naira appreciates at official market, closes at N414.30/$

The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N414.30/$1, at the Investors and Exporters window, where forex is traded officially, representing a 0.02% gain when compared to N414.40/$1 recorded on Monday, 11th October 2021.

Similarly, the exchange rate at the parallel market closed at N568/$1, representing a N6.50 drop when compared to the N574.50 that was recorded the previous trading day.

The local currency hit as high as N420.50 at the official market earlier in the week, as the forex shortage persists. Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, also called on the CBN on Monday, to allow the naira to reflect the realities of the market. He noted that the exchange rate was artificially low.

The opening indicative rate closed at N413.64/$1 on Monday, representing an 11 kobo drop when compared to N413.53/$1 recorded the previous trading day.

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An exchange rate of N420.15 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N414.30/$1, while it sold for as low as N405/$1 during intra-day trading.

According to data tracked from FMDQ, forex turnover declined from $184.31 million recorded on Monday to $153.39 million on Tuesday, 12th October 2021.

Nigeria’s foreign reserve gained $620 million on Monday, 11th October 2021 to close at $39.007 billion compared to $38.387 billion recorded as of the previous day. The latest increase represents a 1.6% 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 $3.63 billion. It is also worth noting that Nigeria’s reserve gained over $2.21 billion in just 6 days into October 2021.

The recent increase in the reserve position, which has continued since the 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 deficits.