By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, September 11.
Business Post reports that the domestic currency recorded its best performance since July after it was strengthened against the greenback at midweek by 4.8 per cent or N78.84 to close the session at N1,558.75/$1 at the official window compared with the preceding day’s N1,637.59/$1.
This happened after it was reported that the maiden local $500 bond programme of the federal government was oversubscribed by 80 per cent, resulting in the sale of $900 million as a result of the confidence investors have in the country’s economy.
The exercise witnessed attention from a wide range of investors, including Nigerians at home and abroad, as well as institutional investors.
The programme is expected to boost Nigeria’s FX market, which has been gripped by a shortage of forex and a high seasonal demand amid a slowdown in investments and a decline in oil sales, which accounts for over 60 per cent of the country’s foreign earnings.
However, the local currency slid further on the Pound Sterling in the spot market yesterday by N25.39 to settle at N2,125.45/£1 compared with the preceding day’s N2,100.06/£1, while it gained N10.99 against the Euro during the session to quote at N1,794.00/€1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,804.99/€1.
A look at the parallel market indicated that the Nigerian Naira weakened against the Dollar on Wednesday by N5 to close at N1,655/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,650/$1.
The cryptocurrency market, on its part, was bullish during the session as the headline US Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in as expected last month, possibly sealing the deal for the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark lending rate by just 25 basis points next week.
Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 6.00 per cent to $542.54, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 4.8 per cent to $0.355, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 2.5 per cent to $57,930.42, Solana (SOL) recorded a 2.3 per cent appreciation to sell at $134.79 and Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 2.2 per cent to sell at $0.1023.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.1 per cent to quote at $2,360.25, Ripple (XRP) advanced by 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.5378, and Litecoin (LTC) grew by 0.5 per cent to close at $62.16, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.