Tuesday 22nd March 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N417/$1 at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, representing the lowest level since January 4th 2022.
The exchange rate at the I&E window depreciated on Tuesday, 22nd March 2022 by 0.18% to close at N417/$1 compared to N416.25/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
The exchange rate at the parallel market had maintained N578/$1 in the past five days. However, as of the close of trade on Tuesday, Naira fell to N583/$1 at the black market, largely driven by increased demands in the market. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
In the same vein, Naira fell by 0.7% at the peer-to-peer exchange rate market to trade at a minimum of N584.1/$ in the early hours of Wednesday morning. This is in contrast to the N580/$1 recorded on Tuesday, 22nd March 2022.
In terms of foreign reserve, Nigeria’s FX reserve dipped further by 0.22% to stand at $39.58 billion as of Monday, 21st March 2022 compared to $39.67 billion recorded as of the previous day. The decline is attributed to the continuous intervention by the CBN in the official market.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N416.7/$1 on Tuesday, 22nd March 2022, representing a 0.18% depreciation compared to N416.25/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N415.88/$1 on Tuesday, representing a 18 kobo appreciation compared to the N416.06/$1 recorded on Monday, 21st March 2022.
- An exchange rate of N444/$1 was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N417/$1, while it sold for as low as N410/$1 during intra-day trading,
- A sum of $78.71 million was traded in FX at the official Investors and Exporters window on Tuesday.
Crypto market update
The crypto market is up to a negative start on Wednesday as the market capitalization of the industry dipped 0.36% to stand at $1.871 trillion as press time.
The movement in the market is largely driven by the performance of bitcoin and Ethereum, which are the most capitalized crypto assets. Flagship cryptocurrency, bitcoin dipped 0.7% to trade at $42,097.16 in the early trading hours of Wednesday.
In the same vein, Ethereum recorded a price decline of 0.41% to trade at $2,958.53, Terra dipped 0.33% to trade at $92.76. On the other hand. Solana gained 1.05% to trade at $91.4375.
Meanwhile, the CEO of DBS Bank, the largest bank by assets in Southeast Asia, Piyush Gupta has stated that cryptocurrency could serve as an alternative to gold and its value. While talking at the recent Economic Times Global Business Summit, “he stated that, I don’t think that cryptocurrencies will become money as we know it, but it can be an alternative to gold and its value.”
