The naira appreciated further against the United States dollar across foreign exchange markets on Wednesday, data gathered from both market segments showed.
According to market data published on the FMDQ website, naira closed Wednesday at N1,300/$1 as against N1,382.95 recorded in the previous market session on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s rate implies a 6.0 per cent appreciation from N1,382.95 posted on Tuesday.
The local currency experienced an intraday high of N1,200 and a low of N1,460 to a dollar before it eventually closed at N1,300/$1 on Wednesday.
Within the business period, the official market segment recorded a foreign exchange turnover of $416.10 million, as against $245.58 million posted on Tuesday.
Similarly, the appreciation streak of the Naira continues at the parallel market on Wednesday.
A currency market survey conducted by PREMIUM TIMES at the Abuja zone 4 axis on Wednesday afternoon indicated that the naira was exchanged at N1,270/$1 and above.
This implies a N30 or 2.31 per cent appreciation from N1,300 and above it traded in the previous session on Tuesday.
The recent gains recorded by the local currency at both the official and unofficial markets these past weeks came amidst ongoing efforts by the government to stabilise the currency and tame inflationary pressures in the country following an unprecedented drop in the currency value.
Nigeria’s naira has on several occasions plunged to record lows across both the official and unofficial markets amidst an increased forex demand and a surge in the prices of goods and services across the country.
This prompted the Nigerian government to put measures and reforms in place to safeguard the country’s foreign exchange market and combat speculative activities.
On Monday, The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it sold $10,000 to each Bureau De Change operator at a rate of N1,251 per U.S. dollar to address the lingering price distortions affecting the naira exchange rate in the forex markets.
Financial experts have attributed the recent gains of the naira to the ongoing reforms by the government.