Naira gains against dollar as external reserves fall to 15-day low

Nigeria’s Naira gained slightly against the U.S. dollar at the official exchange market on Wednesday.

This is as Nigeria’s external reserves dropped by $15.9 million in 15 days to $34.97 billion.

Data posted on the FMDQ Security Exchange window where forex is officially traded showed that the Naira closed at N411.25 on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s exchange rate represents a N0.42 or 0.10 percent gain compared to N411.67 on Tuesday.

Market participants bid for U.S dollar at N395.00 and N422.00 before closing at N411.25.

This happened as the dollar supply in the market dropped on Wednesday 30.71 percent, to $33.55 million against the $48.42 million on Tuesday.

Also, at the black market, Naira closed at N485 the same rate it has exchanged since April 22.

READ ALSO: Naira crashes further as CBN injects $1.47bn into FOREX market

After Wednesday trading the exchange rate disparity between the parallel market and the official market is about N73.75.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves dropped to the lowest level in 26 days.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that as of April 27, the forex reserves stood at $34.97bn, the lowest since April 1 when the reserves were at $34.82 billion.

The reserves have been wobbling in recent days, amid the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in India one of Nigeria’s biggest importer of crude oil.

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