By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – The naira on Thursday traded for N226 to a dollar in the parallel (Black) market on continuous strong demand among the major global currencies.
In the same vein, the BDCs sell pounds sterling at N333/£1 while they buy around N328/£1, the BDCs also bought dollars at the rate of N224/$1, according to a Proshare report.
While the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) an e-mail statement said the interbank closing rate as at March 12, 2015 is N197/$1.
Cordros in its update affirmed that the naira gained by 53 basis points (bps) against the greenback to trade at N198.35/$1. “However, the local currency declined by 8bps and 53bps against the pound and euro to trade at N297/.96 and N211.42/€1 respectively,” the report added.
Cordros quoted Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor as saying at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today that “capital controls are not an option.” While, promising market entry and exit will remain free.
On its part, Investment One Research says the interbank FX market maintained the recent trend witnessed in the past few days.
It reported that the CBN intervened in the market at N197/$1 levels, supporting the naira against the greenback. “At the close of the session, the local currency appreciated against the USD and GBP to close at N197.60/$1 and N297.96/£1 respectively,” Investment One Research added.
Investment One in its report said the naira depreciated relative to the euro 0.20 percent to close at N211.74/€1.
“Pressure on the naira is expected to persist in coming sessions as consensus outlook for crude oil prices remains dim,” the report affirmed.
Olufemi Awoyemi, financial analyst in an exclusive interview with InvestAdvocate on Monday said strong naira is not in Nigeria’s favour, according to him, rather than say the naira has been devalued, we can say the naira has been revalued to approximate the reality for investment purposes.
According to him, the forwards market is already pricing the naira at about N285, saying a smart investment manager who understands that can take position at this point in time; hoping full well to make some margins.
“Gone were the days when you thought it was there, a strong naira doesn’t work very well for us. I envisage that by June or thereabout, Nigeria’s currency should be moving around N250, N260 in the black market,” Awoyemi added.
