Naira Closes Flat Against the Dollar at N1540.68/$1

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira closed flat against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, March 13 at N1,540.68/$1, though FX pressure remained.

It was the first time in the last few sessions that the value of the local currency did not depreciate in the official market against the greenback.

However, the domestic currency weakened against the British Pound Sterling at the spot market yesterday by N4.19 to close at N1,990.13/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,985.94/£1.

It was also a similar situation for the Euro at NAFEM, where the Nigerian currency lost N60 Kobo to quote at N1,676.08/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s value of N1,675.48/€1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira crumbled against the US Dollar in the black market during the trading day by N5 to sell for N1,590/$1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,590/$1.

Recent interventions have failed to ease pressure on the market with the country’s foreign reserves losing over $2 billion in the last month and projected to lose more as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sustains US Dollar sales to banks and debt servicing payments.

Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, tokens rose despite persisting US trade war fears which are dampening risk-asset trader appetites.

Market analysts noted that concerns about a President Donald Trump triggered tariff war and a slowing economy in the US, the world’s largest economy, is not offering a clear direction.

The February print of the US Producer Price Index (PPI) came in below median expectations, copying the Consumer Price Index (CPI) results from the day prior.

On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand advanced 3.2 percent for the 12 months ended in February, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated.

Ripple (XRP) gained 3.3 per cent to finish at $2.30, Ethereum (ETH) added 1.5 per cent to sell at $1,891.13, Solana (SOL) jumped by 0.9 per cent to $124.71, Binance Coin (BNB) also appreciated by 0.9 per cent to $580.79, and Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1685.

On the flip side, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.2 per cent to $82,033.71, Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.7 per cent to $0.7154, and Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $88.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.