Naira rebounds to N1,400/$ as speculators offload forex

The naira rebounded against the United States dollar on Wednesday at the official and parallel markets, with the local currency recording a significant gain against the greenback at the black market.

This follows the announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria the final settlements of all valid foreign exchange backlogs, fulfilling a key pledge of the apex bank governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, to process an inherited backlog of $7bn in claims.

This was revealed by the acting CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, in Abuja on Wednesday, stating the central bank had recently cleared $1.5bn from the backlogs.

On Wednesday, the naira closed trading at 1,410/dollar at the black market and N1,492 at the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, according to FMDQ data.

The gain recorded by the naira at the official market represents an appreciation of N68 or 4.5 per cent, from the N1,560/$1 recorded on Tuesday at NAFEM, and a gain of 13.5 per cent or N190 at the black market.

According to the findings of AmBusiness, the naira has been rising in recent times, as speculators have begun to dump their dollar stocks, as demand from prospective buyers has declined in the face of the CBN’s tightening.

In recent weeks and months, a series of circulars from the Central Bank of Nigeria have made it possible to seal leakages and restrict loopholes that currency speculators and counterfeiters had been exploring.

Meanwhile, The daily foreign exchange market turnover increased to $268.29m from $195.13 million recorded on Tuesday.