The Naira experienced an appreciation on Monday, October 21, rising to ₦1,715 per dollar in the parallel market, up from ₦1,725 per dollar recorded last weekend.
Conversely, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the Naira depreciated to ₦1,603.16 per dollar.
According to data from FMDQ, the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM decreased to ₦1,603.16 per dollar, down from ₦1,600.78 per dollar the previous Friday, reflecting a depreciation of ₦2.38 for the Naira.
Naijaonpoint understands that the volume of dollars traded increased by 2.4 percent in the official market, reaching $359.22 million compared to $350.72 million traded the prior weekend.
As a result, the gap between the parallel market rate and the NAFEM rate narrowed to ₦111.84 per dollar, down from ₦124.22 per dollar the previous Friday.
Meanwhile, last week, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, stated that the weak naira helps boost Nigeria’s exports to other nations.
Cardoso made this claim in Abuja during the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES).
The Governor of the apex bank noted that there are opportunities for people to invest despite the weak currency.
He said, “In terms of persuasion, what we need now is to ensure that investments are here. Take, for example, now it may seem like a threat in the sense that the exchange rate has come down so low.
“But that also is an opportunity because what that means is that it can help to boost your exports. This will make Nigeria to become a lot more competitive in the export trade. I just want to encourage people to say that the opportunities are here. Things are recalibrating in a particular direction. It’s not perfect, but definitely there opportunities for people to single out and invest.
“By the time you are exporting out to other countries with the cost of import here and the relatively low naira, you will have a situation where you have to do things like that. And I see it happening. Others are doing it and the interest is growing in leaps and bounds.”