Wednesday, October 12, 2022: Having traded at an all-time low of N441.17/$1 at the Nigerian Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window the previous day, the naira ticked up slightly to close at N440.67/$, gaining 0.1 percent against the dollar. Although the naira was bullish as of the opening of trading when it exchanged with a dollar at N440. However, as intra-day trading progressed, it shed off 0.2 percent of its value to the dollar. Meanwhile, the naira has weakened significantly since the beginning of this month and has depreciated by 0.9 percent week-on-week.
Notably, the increase in forex liquidity in the market for the reporting period fed into the exchange rate at the official market.
An exchange rate of N461/$1 remained the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N440.67/$ at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as N415.50/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $95.39 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period. Representing a 29.5 percent increase in forex supply from the $73.66 million traded the previous day.
The parallel (black) market
Thursday, October 13, 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and dollar at the black market stands at about N735/$1, declining by 0.7 percent compared with the previous day’s closing price. Trading activities at the B2B market show that the exchange rate between the currency pairs is about N742/$ for the same period being reported. This is based on the information obtained from forex marketers in Lagos.
Trading Activities at the Official I&E Window
The exchange rate at the official market closed at N440.67/$1 on Wednesday, 12th October 2022. The opening indicative rate was N440/$1 while the closing rate on Tuesday, 11th October 2022 was N441.17/$1.
Additionally, there was a $21.7 million increase in forex liquidity in the official Investors and Exporters window on Wednesday, which represents a 29.5% increase from the $73.66 million that exchanged hands during the last trading session.
The highest rate recorded during intra-day trading jumped significantly and passed the N460/$ threshold, but it went as low as N415.50/$ before settling for the closing price of N440.67/$1
Foreign Reserves
Nigeria’s gross external reserve has been declining since the beginning of the month. According to data from the CBN, as of October 6, 2022, the gross foreign reserve stood at $38.10 billion. Declined by $10.2 million (0.03 percent) from the 38.11 billion recorded as of October 5.
