Naira appreciates to close at N480/$1 at parallel market

The local currency, Naira on Monday appreciated by N5 to close at N480 per US dollar, against N487 to a dollar it exchanged when the foreign exchange market closed for the week on Friday.

The Naira, had maintained rate at N485 against the dollar for about two weeks but fell on Friday to N487 at the parallel market, as the Greenberg scarcity worsened ahead of the Christmas celebration.

The Nigerian currency, also appreciated slightly against  Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N605 and N510 respectively, while compared to N607 and N513 it traded over the weekend.

At the Bureau De Change window, the Naira closed at N399 to a dollar, CBN-controlled rate, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N606 and N515 respectively.

The Naira remained stable at the inter-bank market, trading at N305 to a dollar.

Meanwhile, traders said that the demand for dollars was putting pressure on the Naira US$1billion futures contract to be opened as naira falls to pressure

There are high expectations that the Naira-Dollar (NGUS) December 21 2016 contract will be maturing, and that this will be replaced with a new instrument with total value of US$1.0billion one dealer revealed.

The Naira-settled Over The Counter (OTC) foreign exchange (FX) Futures product, whilst of tremendous benefit to Nigerian corporates according to experts, is of immense importance and advantage to the CBN, the Nigerian FX market, and the nation’s economy as a whole.

The OTC FX Futures market serves to minimise the imbalance in the Spot FX market and cause the rate to moderate; attract significant capital flows to the Nigerian fixed income and equity markets; and achieve exchange rate stability.