A further depreciation was suffered by the Naira against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, July 23, amid fresh FX demand pressure.
It was the sixth straight session the domestic currency was weakening against the American currency in the official market despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) claiming that there is confidence in the local currency.
Speaking at a post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, where he announced the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hold all benchmark parameters steady for the third straight time, the CBN Governor, Mr Yemi Cardoso, said confidence in the Naira is growing among Nigerians, reflecting renewed optimism over ongoing reforms and improvements in macroeconomic stability.
“Nigerians are having greater confidence in their own currency. I was quite struck in having a discussion with somebody just yesterday… the travel agent said, ‘Please, I know you normally give me my money in dollars, but I’m very happy to take it in Naira.’ Those are the things that are happening across the board,” he narrated.
At the spot market yesterday, the Naira lost 56 Kobo or 0.01 per cent against the greenback to trade at N1,536.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,535.48/$1.
It also depreciated further against the Pound Sterling at NAFEM by N3.56 to sell for N2,081/£1 compared with the N2,070.88/£1 it was exchanged on Tuesday and tumbled by N8.60 against the Euro to settle at N1,802.20/€1 versus N1,796.23/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian currency, however, maintained stability against the Dollar at midweek at N1,537/$1.
As for the digital currency market, there was a form of correction to allow investors grab some liquidity, although analysts say traders may target higher value in coming days, with Ripple (XRP) plunging by 11.7 per cent to $3.11.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 11.1 per cent to $0.2347, Cardano (ADA) lost 10.4 per cent to finish at $0.7961, Solana (SOL) crashed by 7.1 per cent to $186.21, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 6.3 per cent to $110.26, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 4.1 per cent to $3,550.32, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 2.0 per cent to $760.56, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 1.6 per cent to $117,617.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.