Exchange rate falls big at I&E window as dollar supply slides by 17%

Thursday, 21st April 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N419.5/$1 at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.

Naira fell further to its lowest level since 4th January 2022, depreciating by 0.28% on Thursday to close at N419.5/$1 compared to N418.33/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. This represents the second consecutive daily decline in the local currency against the US dollar at the official window.

The downturn in the market is following the drop in the amount of dollar supply in the market. Notably, forex turnover on Thursday dropped by 17.36% compared to the previous day to stand at $124.85 million, the lowest in the four trading sessions.

Also, the exchange rate at the peer-to-peer market depreciated by 0.09% on Friday morning to trade at a minimum of N590/$1, in contrast to the N589.5/$1 recorded as of the same time of the previous day.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the parallel market closed at N585/$1, on Thursday, depreciating by 0.86% compared to N580/$1 traded in the previous day. This is according to information obtained from BDCs operating in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s foreign reserve on the other hand, continues to improve on the back of bullish crude oil prices. External reserve gained 0.034% on Wednesday, 20th April 2022 to stand at $39.79 billion compared to $39.78 billion recorded as of the previous day.

The Central Bank has continued to intervene in the official forex market from the external reserve in order to maintain the stability of the local currency.

Trading at the official NAFEX window

The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N419.5/$1 on Thursday, 21st April 2022, representing a 0.28% depreciation compared to N418.33/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.

• The opening indicative rate closed at N417.81/$1 on Thursday, 21st April 2022, which is 44 kobo lower than the N418.25/$ recorded in the previous trading session.
• An exchange rate of N444/$1 was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N419.5$1, while it sold for as low as N410/$1 during intra-day trading,
• A total of $124.85 million was traded in FX at the official Investors and Exporters window on Thursday.
• According to the data from the FMDQ, forex turnover decreased by 17.36% from $151.07 million recorded on Wednesday to $124.85 million on Thursday, 21st April 2022.

Crypto market update

The crypto market closed in the negative territory on Thursday, with the industry losing 1.83% as of 11:18pm, Nigerian time on stand at $1.846 trillion, despite starting the day on a positive note.

Crypto flagship asset and the most capitalized cryptocurrency, bitcoin dipped 1.44%to trade at $40,778 as of press time, while Ethereum declined by 2.27% to trade at $3,007.22.

In the same vein, Solana dipped 3.59% to trade at $101.81, the price of Uniswap declined by 4.08% to trade at $8.94, while Terra with a decline of 4.09% traded at $90.92.

However, it is worth noting that the crypto market started trading activities on Friday on a positive note as the industry market capitalization gained 0.84% to stand at $1.851 trillion as of the early hours of Friday morning.