Uncertainty forces Naira down against US Dollar

The naira was weakened at the parallel market on Tuesday, thereby depreciating against the dollar. This is the first depreciation of the naira in about two weeks, after four consecutive rounds of appreciation against the dollar.

According to information obtained from Abokifx, the naira depreciated to N445 to a dollar on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. This shows a loss of N5 (or 1.14% decline) when compared to the N440 to a dollar that was recorded last week Friday.

The local currency was weakened at the parallel market following the announcement of the resumption of domestic flight operations on June 21, 2020, by the Federal Government. The uncertainty resulting from the delayed resumption of sales of dollars to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators also contributed.

In a related development, the local currency was stable at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, having recorded no movement. The naira exchanged at N385.50 to a dollar on Monday, June 2, 2020, which was the same rate it ended with on Friday last week.

This came against the backdrop of a marginal increase in the daily turnover to $34.35 million at the I&E window, marking an increase of $2.95 million when compared to the $31.40 million that was recorded the previous trading day. In other words, this represents a 9.4% increase in dollar supply to the window.

Recall that on April 29, 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria had announced the resumption of weekly sales of $100 million dollars for school fees and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in order to help reduce the pressure on the naira in the foreign exchange market. To a large extent, this has helped to reduce pressure on the naira.

However, despite improvement in the price of crude oil around the world and its positive effect on the country’s foreign exchange earnings, the reopening of the economy is expected to put more pressure on the naira as more businesses try to meet up with accumulated obligations.