BREAKING: Naira falls massively as CBN raises interest rates (See new exchange rate)

Naira has fallen massively as CBN raises interest rates, See New Exchange Rate below.

The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N419/$1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, where forex is traded officially.

Naira recorded a 0.32% against the US dollar to close at N419/$1 compared to N420.33/$1 recorded as of the close of trading activities on Monday, 23rd May 2022. Also, a total of $87.06 million in FX exchanged hands in the market on Tuesday, representing a 15.69% increase compared to $75.25 million traded in the previous session.

Exchange rate at the peer-to-peer market declined by 0.32% to trade at $608.12 on Wednesday morning, compared to N606.2/$1 recorded as of the same time the previous day. The downturn in the market is following the hawkish move of the apex bank in raising interest rates.

The Nigerian Central Bank raised the benchmark interest rate (MPR) to 13% on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, after 2 years of adopting a low-interest rate regime, in response to the 2020 economic recession. However, with the rising inflation numbers, the apex bank has joined other country apex banks in raising interest rates in a bid to curb the inflationary pressure.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the parallel market closed at N605/$1 on Tuesday, a 0.17% downturn compared to N604/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. Recall that the exchange rate fell sharply last week as FX liquidity tightened in the market. This is according to information obtained from BDCs operating in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s external reserves depreciated further by 0.26% on Monday to stand at $38.65 billion from $38.75 billion recorded as of the previous day. The decline in the external reserve level can be attributed to the continuous intervention by the Central Bank in the FX market in order to ensure the stability of the local currency.

Trading at the official NAFEX window

Naira gained against the US dollar on Tuesday, with a 0.32% appreciation to close at N419/$1 compared to N420.33/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.

• The opening indicative rate closed at N418/$1 on Tuesday, 24th May 2022, a 54 kobo appreciation compared to N418.54/$1 recorded on Monday, 23rd May 2022.
• Furthermore, an exchange rate of N444/$1 was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N419/$1, while it sold for as low as N410/$1 during intra-day trading.
• A total of $87.06 million exchanged hands on Monday, representing a 15.69% increase compared to $75.25 million traded on Monday.

Crypto market update

The crypto market closed on a positive note on Tuesday, representing a recovery from the recurrent losses posted in recent weeks. The market gained 1.26% in capitalization to close at $1.252 trillion as of 00:30 (WAT) on Thursday.

Also, bitcoin recorded a 1.74% gain to close at $29.589, while Ethereum gained 0.16% to close at $1,974.16. On the flip side, Uniswap recorded a 0.53% drop in price to trade at $5.59.

Solana and Tera gained 0.95% and 13.64% to close at $49.57 and $0.00018111 respectively.

Meanwhile, despite the regulation released by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on cryptocurrency, the Central Bank of Nigeria remained mute concerning the development during the press briefing of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on Tuesday, 24th May 2022.