Fakoyejo OlalekanThe dollar rate in the Bureau De Change-controlled ‘black market’ fell on Monday, as the naira appreciated by -0.5 per cent, to strengthen its position against the American greenback.
The Nigerian appreciated to N773 per dollar, as the cost of exchanging the United States dollar (USD) dropped by N2. In the previous trading session, November 25, the dollar rate was N775.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAt the official market on Monday, the dollar closed at N444.70/$1. During trading, however, the foreign currency exchanged as high as N447.50/$1, and as low as N440/$1.
The exchange rate in the official market followed the path of the black market, as the dollar depreciated against the naira, from N446.33/$1 reported on Friday to N444.70/$1.
According to data obtained from FMDQ, traders exchanged $74.98 million worth of forex. This is below the $117.26 million traded on Friday.
Naira’s appreciation is in line with the projection by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, that the dollar would crash in response to the new naira note issuance.
“Our agency is pleased with the redesign of the naira note because the policy would help the Central Bank of Nigeria control the monies in the system and by extension, enable more money for people to borrow,” he said, adding, “It is my belief (as a student of Economics) that the redesigning of the Naira will cause the value of the dollar currently at N890 to crash to N200.”
While the dollar rate in the black market and the official market moved hand-in-hand on Monday, the governor of the central bank, Godwin Emefiele, had stated that the release of the new naira will affect the exchange rate.
“We do not want to easily admit that this will just happen but we suspect that this would happen and that, it will possibly impact the value of the naira because we do not want to do any speculation. We want to dwell in reality,” Emefiele explained.
Meanwhile, Prime Business Africa had also reported that the naira’s longterm gain is uncertain due to several factors that are within and outside the control of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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