British Pound Loses to Naira as Nigerian Currency Continues to Gain in April, Nigerians React

• The naira, compared to the British pound, gained massively in the first few days of April to close at N1,585.78/£
• The movement represents the continuation of the gain from the previous month following the CBN's intervention
• Nigerians have taken to social media to express their views on the recent rebound of the local currency

The naira has strengthened against the British pound, recording a massive gain in April.

Recent CBN data showed that the naira was valued at N1,585.78/£ as of Thursday, April 4. This is against the price of N1,680.88/£, which it closed the previous month, March.

This means that in the first few days of the month, the naira recorded N95.1/£ gain, depicting a gigantic rebound for the currency which once sold above N2,000/£.

Legit.ng had reported that the naira started the month of March at N1,942.19/£ while it closed at N1,647.12/£ based on the record obtained for the 27th of the month.

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During the period, the pound sterling recorded its highest at N2,090 in the second week of the month while it recorded its lowest in the last week at N1646.49/£.

This came as the CBN reinforced its efforts to save the local currency against major currencies such as the dollar and the British Pound.

In its recent move, the CBN sold $10,000 FX to each BDC at N1,101 per dollar, below the N1,251 it sold at the beginning of the month.

The bank instructed the operators not to sell the FX above the recommended rate of 1.5%.

Addressing concerns on the sustainanility of the gains in the market, financial analyst said that the onus lies on the monetary and fiscal authorities to put in place friendly policies to aid the management of the fx market.

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He said,

"One thing is major and should be dealt with - crude oil production. If Nigeria can address insecurity and terrorism concerns, oil theft and pipeline vandalism, we can begin to see an increase in our crude oil production to above 2mbpd or even close to 2.5mbpd to aid the increase in fx receipt."

Reactions

Nigerians on social media X have taken to their accounts to express their thoughts.

@olumidecapital wrote,

“If you bought N10 million worth of British pounds on February 24 at the black market, you have a paper loss of N3.4 million.”

@OUTRIGHTJOE stated

"I changed pounds for 1,500 today."

@_mahnlikechidi tweeted,

"Is it only me that's seeing that price of 1 pound to naira."

Naira ranks among best-performing African currencies

Legit.ng reported that African markets.com, a regional research hub, has named the naira the third best-performing currency on the continent.

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CBN slashes import duty rate after banning foreign currency collateral for naira loan

This is as the CBN's determined efforts have caused the naira to rise from its lowest level this year.

Increasing interest rates and selling dollars straight to foreign currency markets are two examples of these moves.

Source: Legit.ng