The Nigerian foreign exchange market has recorded a surge in forex supplies, which has led to the recovery of the Nigerian currency for the third day in a row.
Official figures from the FMDQ Exchange put the total forex turnover in the market on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at $268.19 million, which has led to the naira maintaining stability in the market.
The figure represents an over 60% increase from the previous day at $161.41 million.
The current rate shows improved liquidity in the market, which analysts believe will spur further appreciation of the naira.
The improved turnover led to the naira recovering. It appreciated marginally against the US dollar to trade at N1,465.68 per dollar on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, as against N1,468.99.
FMDQ Exchange data shows that traders quoted the dollar at a high of N1,549 per dollar and a low of N1,401.
Meanwhile, traders in the parallel market quoted the dollar’s buying rate at N1,500 per dollar, representing a 1.4% decline from the previous rate.
Reports say the pressure on the naira has been due to tight FX liquidity in markets, which has affected supplies to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators.
In almost one month, the Central Bank of Nigeria has not supplied the operators with forex, which they blame for the falling value of the naira.
Financial analyst and journalist Ishaya Ibrahim attributed Nigeria’s lack of forex to low exports.
He said Nigeria barely earns enough forex to impact the nairaâs value and that low crude oil output has affected foreign reserves.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, said international money transfer operators (IMTOs) identified charges and volatile exchange rates as reasons for the nairaâs poor performance.
Cardoso said the CBN collaborated with the IMTOs to double remittance inflows from formal sources into Nigeria.
The apex bank approved 14 new IMTOs to help double FX remittances into the country.
TimesNow.com.ng previously reported that after several days of losses, the naira recovered against the US dollar for the second time in a week.
The Nigerian currency has been battered for more than 14 days after emerging as the Worldâs best-performing currency in April, following CBN policies.
On Friday, May 17, 2024, the naira broke vital resistance against the US dollar to trade at N1,1497.33 per dollar in the official market as against the N1,533.99 recorded on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
