The naira yesterday appreciated significantly in value against the dollar by N1.51k or 0.76 percent at the interbank foreign exchange (FX) market.
It closed at N197.70k/$ yesterday as against N199.21k/$ the previous day. The local currency had been stable at N199.21k/$ for two day at the interbank market, data from FMDQ indicated.
At the autonomous and parallel market, naira yesterday traded stable against the dollar, closing at N320/$ and N325/$, respectively.
However, at the CBN’s clearing rate on the interbank market yesterday, naira remained unchanged at N197/$, data from FMDQ indicated.
Analysts had said pressure on the local currency would reduce and stability maintained at the FX market this week following noticeable improvement in the foreign reserve and crude oil prices.
The nation’s foreign reserve rose to $27.88 billion as of March 10, representing 0.33 percent compared with $27.78 billion as of February 18, data on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website revealed.
Sarah Alade, deputy governor, monetary policy, said at the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that liquidity remained tight in the FX market posing significant threat to growth in 2016.
To mitigate the adverse effects, she said effort should be made to increase FX supply to the interbank market. However, it should be noted that the average naira exchange rate remained relatively stable at the interbank segment.
