Lagos, Nigeria
Wetin dey happen for Naira front? You no go believe am! Naija currency don balance like sey dem do gym. As of Monday, Naira don appreciate to N1,452.79 per dollar for the official foreign exchange market. This one na serious gain, make we no lie—14.34 percent better than the N1,661.12 wey we see for December 2024 when dem bring the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) come wahala.
Just yesterday, Naira don waka komot again as e strengthen by 0.4 percent, dis one na N5.16 compared to N1,457.95 wey e trade for Friday. E mean say, Naira dey try small-small. But wait, for the black market, dem still dey sell am as N1,485 per dollar, dey maintain like a stubborn goat. No be only dem shine, even our foreign reserves don rise small small too—$42.87 billion now, since dem sabi find better inflows. Big ups to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for di figures.
According to market update, foreign portfolio investors dey help our currency for ground, contributing 33.52 percent ($460.01 million) of all transaction. As Nigerian economy dey grow, dem exporters dey chime in with 14.92 percent, naaah! You fit see say as dem dey bring cash come, Naira dey yarn better stories.
But no sabi, it no be all go-slow for parallel market though. Dem say ra-ra dem no dey fall as e weaken by 0.67 percent week-on-week to N1,500 per dollar. Dey maintain the squeeze, see as dem still dey manage. The difference between the parallel market and official market don shrink from N42.04 last week to N14.65 this time, na wa oh, things dey change!
Looking ahead, the analysts at Coronation Merchant Bank don drop their predictions, say the official rate fit still dey under N1,500 mark, if dem keep getting this FX liquidity and inflow from major players. You remember say since CBN don talk say make banks use Bloomberg BMatch system for di interbank FX market on December 2, 2024, na so Naira dey end up in better shape. The new rules wey dem set for trading dey help promote transparency and efficiency, wey dey make investors smile.
The Federal Government don also bring guidelines for EFEMS, wey set minimum tradable amount for $100,000, plus dey encourage fairness, liquidity, and efficiency in all di forex transactions. Former director of di Financial Markets Department, Omolara Duke, don yarn say this EFEMS na to make everything clear and ensure all parties dey comply with CBN rules. Make we dey hope say this one go help our Naira stay flexing with di dollar.
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