Naira Appreciates To N359.7/$ As External Reserve Hits $31.35bn

The naira appreciated on Wednesday below N360 per dollar for the first time in the Investors and Exporters window due to increased dollar supply.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that the nation’s external reserve rose to a new high of $31.35 billion as at Friday August 11, 2017.

According to data posted by the apex bank, the external reserve rose by $392 million to $31.375 billion last week Friday from $30.965 billion Friday the previous week.

While data from Financial Market Dealers Quote showed that the indicative exchange rate for the I&E window, known as Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX), dropped to N359.65 per dollar yesterday from N362.38 per dollar on Tuesday.

This translated to N2.69 appreciation for the naira against the dollar. Hence the naira has appreciated by N6.81 against the dollar this week. The appreciation was driven by increased dollar supply into the window, with the volume of dollars traded yesterday rising by 154 per cent to $236.38 million, from $93.21 million on Tuesday.