In the just concluded week, the local currency depreciated by 0.06% at the Investors & Exporters Forex Window (I&E FXW) to close N360.88.
Also, at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, NGN/USD rose (i.e. Naira depreciated) by 0.04% to close at N356.60/USD despite the sustained weekly injections of USD210 million by CBN into the foreign exchange market via the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), of which: USD100 million was allocated to Wholesale SMIS, USD55 million was allocated to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and USD55 million was sold for invisible.
However, Naira remained unchanged against the US dollar at both the Bureau De Change (BDC) and the parallel (‘black’) market segments at N358/USD and N360/USD respectively.
Meanwhile, the Naira/USD exchange rate rose for all of the foreign exchange forward contracts – spot rate, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months rates rose (i.e. Naira depreciated) by 0.02%, 0.06%, 0.13%, 0.27%, 0.11% and 0.04% to close at N307.00/USD, N363.64/USD, N366.64/USD, N369.86/USD, N381.51/USD and N404.26/USD respectively.
In the new week, we expect appreciation of the Naira against the USD in most market segments, especially at the I&E FXWindow as CBN sustains its special interventions amid sustained accretion to external reserves.
