Naira Depreciates 0.63% to N1,531 Per Dollar at Official Market

Similarly, the Nigerian currency weakened against the Pound Sterling during the trading session by N20.41 to quote at N1,984.61/£1 compared with the previous trading day’s rate of N1,964.20/£1 and against the Euro, it tumbled by N14.68 to sell for N1,668.46/€1 versus the preceding session’s value of N1,653.78/€1.

The depreciation trend continued after the exchange rate had appreciated just once over the last week as supply factors and the Dollar strengthening across the global market continues to impact other local currencies.

Nigeria’s inflation cooled to 23.18 per cent in February, a month after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) rebased its Consumer Price Index (CPI) to reflect changes in consumption patterns. A month earlier, the inflation was 24.48 per cent.

However, the the domestic currency appreciated against the US Dollar in the official market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,585/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,590/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens fell as investors expect the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady this week, with analysts saying policymakers might pause or stop the central bank’s balance sheet runoff.

There are also trade tensions and concerns around a slowdown in the US economy at a time when it is increasingly uncertain how much more accommodation the US central bank can offer.

Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to trade at $125.04, Litecoin (LTC) fell by 2.7 per cent to $89.70, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 2.5 per cent to settle at $0.1673, Ripple (XRP) dropped 2.2 per cent to end at $2.28, Cardano (ADA) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.7072, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 0.4 per cent to $83,103.91, and and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) went down by 0.03 per cent to $0.9998.

Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $634.55, and Ethereum (ETH) added 0.5 per cent to close at $1,907.25, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) was flat at $1.00.