Naira ends the week red in absence of CBN support

The Nigerian local currency, the naira, closed the week on negative note as heavy forex demand continues to exert pressure on the exchange rate in the official window. Though there has been accretion into external reserves, the apex bank appears to have gone on holiday from conducting a US dollar sales auction.

This has kept the exchange rate range bound, settling around N1400 and N1500, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange. Analysts, however, expect the naira to regain balance in the coming weeks following approval of $2.25 billion in loans from the World Bank.

Recall that the Africa Export-Import Bank recently disbursed about $1 billion to Nigeria as part of a more than $3 billion oil-backed loan deal with NNPC Limited. According to data from the central bank, gross external reserves crossed $33 billion following FX inflows ahead of World Bank disbursements.

At the close of the trading session, the naira depreciated against the US dollar by 0.44% in the Nigerian autonomous foreign exchange market, closing at ₦1,482.72 per greenback. Meanwhile, the naira closed at a much lower rate of N1,465 per US dollar in the unofficial or parallel market FX crisis in the economy.

In the global commodity market, Brent crude futures decreased by 0.06% to $82.69 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 0.11% to $78.53 a barrel.