Naira Exchanges N360/$ As Fx Inflow Fell By 12.1% M/m

SAN FRANCISCO, February 17, (THEWILL) – As shortage of dollar persists at the foreign exchange (FX) market, the naira on Wednesday, significantly depreciated in value against the dollar across segments of the market.

Checks by THEWILL revealed that it dropped N8 or 2.29 percent each at the autonomous and parallel markets, respectively. After trading on Wednesday, the naira closed at N360 against the dollar from N352 the previous day at the parallel market. It closed at N358/$ on the same day from N350/$ the previous day at the autonomous market.

At the interbank market, the local currency weakened by N1.70k or 0.88 percent to close at N199.34k/$, as against N197.60k/$ the previous day, according to data from FMDQ.

Against other currencies, it lost N15 against the pounds sterling to close at N482 on Wednesday from N467 the previous day. It also lost N7 against the euro to close at N377, compared with N370 the previous day.

However, the CBN's clearing rate at the interbank market on Wednesday remained unchanged at N197/$, data from FMDQ indicated.

Meanwhile, provisional data from the CBN's economic report for the month of November indicated that FX inflow through the CBN, at $2.48 billion, fell by 12.1 percent and 39.7 percent, relative to the levels in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2014, respectively.

The development relative to the level in the preceding month was attributed, wholly, to the 48.0 percent fall in non-oil receipts, during the review month. Aggregate outflow through the CBN, at $2.50 billion, rose by 6.8 percent above the level in the preceding month, but was 50.6 percent below the level in the corresponding period of 2014.

The development relative to the level at end of October 2015 was due, largely, to the increase in CBN's interventions in the interbank FX market and other official payments. Overall, a net outflow of $0.20 billion was recorded through the CBN, in contrast to the net inflow of $0.48 billion in the preceding month.

Story by David Oputah