On Tuesday, the parallel market saw the Nigerian Naira
closing at 363 per USD, which was the same rate it
closed before the holidays.
The Naira which have been fluctuating around 365 per
USD for some months now, rocketed to 364 per USD as
the Christmas holiday approached.
It later rose to 364 per USD before closing at 363 per
dollar on Friday.
Though it had been predicted by Foreign Exchange
traders and currency analysts that the Naira would be
stable during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
They claimed that regular interventions of the Central
Bank of Nigeria by injecting dollars into the market
would dissuade currently speculators from making a bet
on the Naira.
Investors and Exporters FX Window, shows the Naira
fluctuating at 360 per USD, while it was quoted at
306.05 at the official market, which is the level the
Central Bank has been intervening.
Dollars are been injected into the forex market, weekly
by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the last couple of
months.
The Association of Bureau De Change’s President, Alhaji
Aminu Gwadabe, has however cautioned that spending
by politicians ahead of the 2019 general elections may
cause instability of the Naira.
He said that the tendency to amass dollars which is to
be spent on political campaigns by politicians is not
new to the nation’s political history.
Gwadabe said; Politicians spending money may affect
the exchange rate stability in 2018. Electioneering
starts early this time and the susceptibility of people to
to amass dollars which would be spent on political
campaigns is not new.
He therefore called on regulatory bodies, security
operatives to make sure that currency caches and and
speculators don’t leverage the 2019 elections to erode
the gains recorded in the nation’s foreign exchange
market.
He noted that about $8 billion has been splashed out
by the CBN for intervention purposes at the forex
market, which lead to flattening of rates across board.
According to him, BDC operators who are very critical
stakeholders in the forex market are focused on p
laying
by the rules in ensuring that Naira retains its stability.
Since February, the CBN responded swiftly when the
Naira rose to N520 per USD, thus ensuring that it
retained it’s stability at about N363 per USD.
Attempts by the CBN and critical stakeholders like BDC,
led to the convergence of rates between the BDC
segment and the parallel market.
For now, most African major currencies will retain a
steady level as foreign markets remain sluggish over
the holidays.

source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/03/new-year-nigerian-naira-closes-363-per-usd-holidays/