The Naira again depreciated against the United States Dollar by N7.16 or 0.53 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 19, to N1,370.46/$1 from the previous day’s N1,363.30/$1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency lost N9.07 against the Pound Sterling at the official market yesterday to trade at N1,814.76/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,805.69/£1, and crashed against the Euro by N6.43 to settle at N1,571.50/€1 versus N1,565.07/€1.
Also, the Naira weakened against the greenback in the black market during the session by N5 to sell for N1,390/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,385/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it shed N3 to close at N1,376/$1 versus N1,373/$1.
The official market’s FX liquidity has been facing pressure over the last three trading sessions, contributing to a decline in the official exchange rate due to rising demand for foreign payments.
FX reserves rose to $51.03 billion, the highest level since January 20, 2009, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The figure also represents the highest since the beginning of the year and under the administration of the current Governor of CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso.
The latest figure underscores the steady strengthening of Nigeria’s external buffers, which continues to reinforce investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and support exchange rate stability.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed, with Bitcoin (BTC) up by 0.8 per cent to $63,225.80 after trading activity was relatively subdued due to a US federal holiday, as the absence of stock and bond market activity led to quieter conditions across crypto markets, even though digital assets continue to trade around the clock.
Further, TRON (TRX) also gained 0.8 per cent to sell at $0.3230, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.5 per cent to $579.84, and Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.1 per cent to $1,704.23.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.9 per cent to $1.13, Cardano (ADA) shed 0.8 per cent to trade at $0.1611, Solana (SOL) fell by 0.1 per cent to $69.23, and Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 0.1 per cent to $0.0831, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
