Naira retracts as exchange rate falls at official and P2P markets

The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N416.67/$1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, where forex is traded officially.

Naira retracted on Monday as it depreciated by 0.16% against the US dollar to close at N416.67/$1 compared to N416/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. Demand for dollar at the official window has witnessed consecutive declines in the past 3 trading sessions.

In the same vein, the exchange rate started downwards at the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) forex market, trading at a minimum of N576 to a dollar on Tuesday morning. This represents a 0.16% depreciation compared to N575.1/$1 recorded on Monday, 12th February 2022.

On the other hand, Naira remained flat at the parallel market, trading at N570/$1 on Monday, 14th February 2022. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.

Also, Nigeria’s external reserve dropped further on Friday, 11th February 2022 to close at $39.85 billion. Representing a 0.06% decline compared to $39.87 billion recorded as of the previous day. The reserve continues despite the upward trend in the price of crude oil, already trading above $95 per barrel and edging closer to hitting the $100 per barrel mark.

Trading at the official NAFEX window

The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N416.67/$1 on Monday, 14th February 2022, which represents a 0.16% depreciation compared to N416/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.

• The opening indicative rate closed to N415.76/$1 on Monday, which represents a 45 kobo depreciation compared to N415.31/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
• An exchange rate of N444/$1 was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N416.67/$1, while it sold for as low as N410/$1 during intra-day trading.
• Meanwhile, forex turnover at the official window decreased by 9.3% to $76.78 million on Monday.
• According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window dropped to $76.78 million on Monday from $84.65 million recorded on Friday 11th February 2022.

Crypto market

The crypto market started trading activities on Tuesday on a positive note with the industry gaining over $53 billion in the early hours of the day to stand at $1.91 trillion. The movement in the industry market capitalization is largely attributable to the bullish sentiment in the two most valuable crypto assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum.

As of press time, crypto flagship asset, Bitcoin had gained 2.72% to trade at $43,697, while Ethereum had gained 3.89% to trade at $3,044.47. In the same vein, Solana gained 5.33% to trade at $101.65, Terra gained 2.12% to trade at $54.9818931, while Uniswap recorded a 2.64% gain to trade at $10.9.

Meanwhile, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has stated that crypto assets and stablecoins are no match for well-designed central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

“If CBDCs are designed prudently, they can potentially offer more resilience, more safety, greater availability, and lower costs than private forms of digital money,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Monday that crypto lending platform BlockFi has agreed to pay $100 million in penalties. According to the commission, it charged Blockfi Lending LLC with failing to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product, BlockFi Interest Accounts (BIAs).

Crude oil price set for $100

The crude oil market resumed trading activities on Tuesday morning on a bearish note, following a stellar growth recorded yesterday having surpassed $96 per barrel and heading towards a $100 per barrel milestone.

However, the market retracted on Tuesday morning as Brent Crude dipped by 0.63% to trade at $95.87 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped 0.71% to trade at $94.78. Natural gas however gained 3.53% on Tuesday morning to trade at $4.343 per barrel while gasoline recorded a 0.56% decline to trade at $2.764 per barrel.

The market had remained bullish in recent weeks owing to sustained tension between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia had ignored formal requests to explain the build-up of 100,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s borders. Although, Russia had denied any plans to invade Ukraine despite the build-up of troops at the border, according to BBC.

Meanwhile, the price of OPEC Basket declined marginally by 0.02% to trade at $92.85 per barrel, four days ago, While Bonny Light gained 1.48% to close at $95.97 a barrel. Nigeria’s crude products, Brass River and Qua Iboe followed the same path with a 4.8% appreciation to close at $98.74 per barrel.

External reserve

Nigeria’s external reserve declined by 0.06% on Friday, 11th February 2022 to close at $39.85 billion, which represents a decline of $22.74 million from the $39.87 billion recorded as of the previous day.

The continuous decline in the country’s reserve level can be attributed to the Central Bank’s intervention in the official market in ensuring the stability of the exchange rate. Although it is worth noting that the decline has been very minimal in recent times, largely attributable to the rally in crude oil prices.

Nigeria’s reserve level declined by $481.37 million in January 2022 following the $66.17 million depreciation recorded in the previous month. Meanwhile, year-to-date, Nigeria’s reserve has now depreciated by $671.4 million despite the rally at the global crude oil market.