Naira gains against dollar on I&E window, closes flat at black market

Naira appreciated against the United States dollar at the over-the-counter spot market, popularly called the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Monday, closing at N385.78.

It translates to 22 kobo gain when set beside the N386 at which the dollar closed on Friday. The opening indicative rate on Monday was N386.10 to a dollar, representing a 23 kobo improvement over the N386.33 recorded at the previous session.

Naira touched an intraday high of N386 to a dollar and an intraday low of N380.

For the second consecutive trading day, turnover fell marginally by 3.9% from $21.09 million to $20.27 million.

Read also; Naira gains against dollar at I&E window, closes flat at black market

Last week, the average daily forex sale at the I&E window stood at around $24 million, signalling a plunge from the $50.6 million recorded the week before. Yet, these levels are well below the over $200 million average daily turnover recorded in January.

Gross foreign exchange turnover for July was $937 million relative to the $875 million in June.

At the parallel market, naira remained unchanged for the sixth day in a row, trading at N475 to a dollar according to Abokifx, which collates exchange rates from informal street traders.

Various segments of the currency market have been facing liquidity crisis as Nigeria strives to conserve its foreign reserves following limited dollar inflow in the wake of the recent oil crash.

Lately, the central bank has been making efforts to harmonise the country’s multiple foreign exchange rates around the one used at the I&E window in order to attract foreign investors. However, the gap between the I&E rate and the black market rate stands at N89.22.

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