Naira Extends Rally as Gross External Reserves Surge
The naira extended its rally against the US dollar at the official window on Monday as data showed that the gross balance in Nigeria’s foreign reserves expanded.
The daily FX update released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the official exchange rate closed at N1442.5126 per dollar at the beginning of the week in the absence of liquidity pressure.
Demand for foreign payments using dollar at primary currency reduced as companies begin to close their books for the year. The official spot rate touched an intraday high of N1450, appreciating from N1455 quoted at the equivalent period last week when the market closed.
But the intraday rate worsened to N1438.10 versus N1435 quoted at the previous session following the Apex Bank interventions. Nigeria’s external reserves edged higher to $45.275 billion, covering about 10 months of the nation’s imports based on the latest trading data.
Elsewhere, prices of crude oil increased by approximately 2% early on Monday with soft trading activities in the global commodity market after the U.S. and Ukrainian meeting.
U.S. and Ukrainian presidents revealed in an official statement that progress had been made on a peace agreement, but issues still remain to be ironed out by the parties.
The U.S. benchmark crude price, WTI Crude, was up by 2.43% on the day and traded at $58.12, while Brent Crude moved to $62 per barrel, up by 2.24% from Friday’s close.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy met on Sunday to discuss a revised draft of a peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been dragging on for nearly four years.
However, some of the thorniest issues remain unresolved, including the fate of the Donbas region, which Russia wants to fully control. Following the meeting, President Trump said that a deal on Donbas remained “unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer.”
An overall agreement on a peace path at this point is “close to 95%” done, also according to President Trump. # Naira Rises as Gross External Reserves Surge Naira Appreciates by N11 at Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market
