Naira Appreciates at The Black Market as CBN Denies Devaluing Currency
- The naira appreciated against the US dollar to trade at N750 to a dollar on the black market
- The Nigerian currency gained about N13 after trading at N763 on Tuesday, May 30, 2023
- The development follows CBN’s denial that it has devalued the currency to N630 per dollar
The naira appreciated against the US dollar at the unofficial parallel market on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, trading at N750 to the dollar as against the N763 it sold the previous day.
The Nigerian currency gained about N7 against the US dollar on Tuesday, May 31, 2023, after it opened at N770.
Source: Facebook
Naira experiences strength in the black market
The naira’s performance was mainly due to the bearish official market and Investors & Exporters (I&E) window, weakening by 0.03% and 0.04% to close at N461.60 to a dollar and N464.67 to the dollar, respectively, according to data from the FMDQ and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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The Punch reports that President Bola Tinubu directed the CBN to unify the exchange rate in his speech on Monday, May 29, 2023.
Tinubu orders CBN to unify exchange rates
Tinubu said the apex bank must ensure that Nigeria has a unified exchange rate, directing the fund from arbitrage to a meaningful investment. It states that interest rates must come as it is currently high, anti-people, and anti-business.
The central bank operates a multiple exchange rates system with rates adopted by different segments of the Nigerian economy.
The exchange rates include:
- The Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing.
- The I&E window.
- The parallel market.
- The IATA rate.
- Interbank Exchange Rate.
- Bureaux De Change rate.
CBN denies devaluing naira
The development comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria denied a report that it has devalued the naira to N630 per dollar.
In a statement sent to Legit.ng, the CBN called the report fake news, stating that the report is the imagination of the newspaper.
CBN said:
"The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a news report by the Daily Trust Newspaper of June 1, 2023, titled “CBN Devalues Naira To 630/$1”.
We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.
The public is hereby advised to ignore the news report by Daily Trust in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated to cause panic in the market.
Media practitioners are advised to verify their facts from the Central Bank of Nigeria before publishing in order not to misinform the public.”
Naira falls to N760 per dollar on black market as forex supply hits $15.2 billion
Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian currency experienced a considerable fall against the United States dollar on the black market, settling at an average exchange rate of N760 per dollar on Monday,
May 22, 2023. The fall marks a 0.66% decline compared to the day before, when the naira traded at N755 per dollar.
On Thursday, May 18, 2023, the naira traded at N745 per dollar.
Source: Legit.ng
