Naira Appreciates To ₦1,240/Dollar In Parallel, Official Markets

At the close of trading on Wednesday, Nigeria’s currency, the naira appreciated to ₦1,240 per dollar at the parallel section of the Foreign Exchange (FX) market.

Naija News understands that the current FX rate signifies an increase of 0.80 percent from the ₦1,250/$ reported on April 1.

Currency traders, also known as street traders, in Lagos, quoted the buying rate of the local currency at ₦1,220 and the selling rate at ₦1,240.

At the official window, the local currency appreciated by 1.25 percent against the dollar from ₦1,278.58 on April 2 to close at ₦1,262.85 on Wednesday.

During trading hours in the official window, a dollar was sold as high as ₦1,296 and at a low rate of ₦1,210, according to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

The daily foreign exchange market turnover was $166.18 million.

With the current figures at both FX markets, the official market rate surpasses the parallel market rate by N22.85.

Currency Traders Disclose Why Naira Has Been Appreciating, Predict What Might Happen In April

Currency traders have shared their thoughts on why the Naira has been appreciating against the Dollar over the past few weeks.

According to data from FMDQ Securities, the indicative exchange rate for the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market closing below the ₦1,300 ceiling marks the first instance since January 26 of this year.

Currency traders who spoke to Punch, attributed the naira appreciation to waned demand for the greenback note and the decision of the apex bank to sell foreign exchange to operators.

Analysts at Afrinvest also predicted that the Naira would trade within the similar band in the month of April as the CBN continues its activities to mop up liquidity and attract more capital