Omo! E be like say naira don dey shine this January wey just pass, as she collect beta ground against dollar for di official foreign exchange market. According to wetin Central Bank of Nigeria talk, naira don sabi move from 1,422.07/$ for last week wey be 23 January, to 1,386.55/$ by di time wey January don waka.
This one sweet naija economy matter because e show say naira don appreciate by 2.47% during di week wey comot. E start for 26 January when e dey 1,418.95/$ and by di end wey naira don strong pass wey she reach 1,386.55/$. Even tho dem see 1,423.50/$ early for di week, as di month dey close, di gap between highest and lowest rate don dey reduce, meaning say e dey stable small.
Dem analysts dey talk say if dis gist continue like dis, e fit help cool di inflation wey dey follow imported goods. Analysts from Cowry Assets Management Limited don notice di naira dey do am well for di past week, and for di parallel market, naira self don appreciate by 2.11% to N1,444.19/$. Dem talk say for di week wey dey come, naira go still maintain im small gains because of better oil receipts and strong non-oil inflows.
Anyway, according to wetin dem from CardinalStone report, naira don dey trade N1,465.00/$ for di parallel market. Di experts from AIICO Capital talk say for January, naira don appreciate by 1.28% as e rise from N1,490.00/$ to N1,460.00/$. Di stabilization wey dey happen no be small, because naira appreciate small-small thanks to beta FX liquidity wey comot from foreign investors and local players.
Di external reserve self don rise by $687.40 million month-on-month, now e dey $46.18 billion, thanks to good FX inflows, oil money, remittances, and beta stabilisation wey dem dey do. As per wetin dem dey forecast, naira go dey “volatile but generally stable”, and small-small appreciation go dey happen for February. E get strong external reserves and dem dey expect crude oil price to still dey high, which go help bolsters naira alongside di fiscal and monetary reforms wey dem don dey push.
But no be all rosy as Bloomberg dey report say new tax law dey cause wahala for dollar demand for di parallel market. Abubakar Muhammed wey dey operate bureau de change talk say people dey convert naira to dollars to protect demselves from tax agents. If dem fit clear di tax matter, dollar demand fit reduce small as naira dey go back to normal.
In di meantime, di CEO of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane confirm di gist say people dey fear say tax authorities fit lock dem accounts, so dem dey gather dollars as backup.
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