Despite surge in forex reserves, naira closes week at 405/$1

The Nigerian naira closed trading for the first week in April 2017 at 405 to the greenback at the parallel market, despite surge in foreign exchange reserves.

On Monday, the local currency was trading between 380 and 385 to the dollar at the same market, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sought a convergence in foreign exchange rate across all segments of the market.

The bank increased its sales of forex to bureau de change (BDC) operators on Tuesday to $10,000 per week, and sold the dollar once a week to curb logistical issues.

After the sales to the parallel market, the naira appreciated slighted to trade around 380 to the dollar.

On Thursday, CBN auctioned $100 million at the interbank wholesales window, with the aim of meeting legitimate needs at that segment of the foreign exchange market.

Significant rise was also seen in the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which moved from $30.318 billion on Monday to $30.326 billion on Wednesday, after falling over the past week by a few hundred millions.

The reserves moved from $30,348,621,856 billion on March 23, to $30,296,992,832 by March 29, 2017, before the recent surge in April.

The increase could not stop the British pound from falling from N475 earlier in the week, to N490 at the close of business on Friday — at the parallel market.

Euro traded at N425, a decline from N400 at the beginning of the week.

The CBN has assured Nigerians that it would continue to fine-tune its policy actions to ensure that the country builds a resilient foreign exchange market.