On Friday, the turnover of dollars in the official market
was $84.02m. This increased to $123.25m on Monday. Despite this, the naira
depreciated by 1.96 per cent to N795.41/$ as of the close of trading on Monday
after closing trading at N780.14/$ on Friday according to data from FMDQ OTC
Securities Exchange. On Monday, trading opened at N780.83/$ before closing at
N795.41/$.
However, during trading the naira traded for as high as
N1099/$ and as low as N701/$. Meanwhile, on the parallel market, the naira
continued its fall, depreciating by 4.55 per cent to N1,150/$ from the N1,100/$
it traded for on Friday.
A Bureau de Change Operator who only gave his name as Awolu
told The PUNCH, “I am buying at N1,110/$ but selling at N1,150/$.” Another
trader, Kadir, added, “It is N1,150/$ today if you want to sell. If you want to
buy it is N1,170/$.
The naira has continued to depreciate following the Central
Bank of Nigeria’s order to allow the free flow of the country’s exchange rate
in June on the official Investor & Exporter forex window. Before this move,
the naira traded at the official market on the FMDQ at 471.67/$ and at the
parallel market at 765/$ in June.
However, according to new information from Economist
Intelligence, the naira is set to close 2023 at N810/$ on the official market.
It disclosed this in its recently released country report. It stated that after
floating the naira in June, the apex bank has since reverted to guiding the
exchange rate by limiting access to foreign exchange sales for banks and other
dealers that quote prices outside a preferred rate.
The EIU noted that this unsupportive monetary policy would
continue to put pressure on the naira. It said, “However, other factors
undermining the naira, such as deeply negative short-term real interest rates,
require an orthodox monetary policy that the authorities have not demonstrated
enough appetite for. We therefore do not expect a currency float to succeed
over 2024-28, although it seems likely that the fuel subsidy will end when the
Dangote refinery is able to replace imports, from late 2024 onwards.”