Naira appreciates to N1,572/$ at official window, marginally declines at parallel market

The naira, on Monday, depreciated to N1,610 against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market.

The FX rate signifies a 0.63 percent decline from the N1,600/$ traded at the street market on March 15.

Speaking to TheCable, some bureau de change (BDCs) operators in Lagos, said they are willing to buy a dollar at N1,580 and sell at a rate of N1,610/$ — creating a profit margin of N30.

At the official section of the FX market, the currency strengthened on March 18, gaining 1.86 percent to trade at N1,572.86 — from N1,602.75/$ on March 15.

Meanwhile, projections have been made that the naira will appreciate in the coming months owing to reforms by President Bola Tinubu’s administration. 

Goldman Sachs, on March 10, said the naira will appreciate to N1,200 against the dollars in the next 12 months.

“We think the Naira looks cheap on a REER basis in a historical context. Added to this, the current account surplus was +3.5% of GDP in 2023Q3, and we expect it to increase above +5.0% on the recent FX moves and associated import compression,” Goldman Sachs said.

“We thus see reason for the Naira to be undervalued, and we see it appreciating to 1200 within the next 12 months.”

Similarly, on December 18, 2023, Bismarck Rewane, chief executive officer (CEO) of Financial Derivatives, said Nigeria’s exchange rate is expected to appreciate as inflation drops in the year.