Naira to rise further as banks reject dollars

The United States dollar will further tumble against the naira at the parallel market this week as Deposit Money Banks continue to reject cash deposit of foreign currencies into customers’ domiciliary accounts.

The naira had appreciated against the dollar from 245 to 220 at the parallel market last week after banks started denying their customers opportunity to make cash deposits of dollar, pound and euro into their domiciliary accounts.

Foreign exchange dealers told our correspondent on Sunday that the naira would likely appreciate further against the dollar at the black market this week.

A forex trader, who chose to speak under the condition of anonymity said, “We expect the naira to

appreciate further this week at the parallel market.

“Banks have flooded the market with dollars and other foreign currencies. This is making the naira to appreciate. There is still a huge stock of dollars out there that the banks will be pushing into the parallel market this week.”

States to repay bailout loans from allocations

It has been revealed that the bailout package being prepared by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the 36 states of the federation is to be deducted from their statutory allocations.

On Monday revealed that some state governors had started visiting the central bank to discuss modalities on how and when the funds would be released.

It was gathered that the CBN would release the package to the states as concessionary loans to be repaid over a longer period of time rather than the funds being given in form of a grant.

The Presidency said the implementation of the three-pronged financial intervention recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to support the states to pay their workers was now in progress.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said this in a statement.

Akande said state governments would start benefiting from the special intervention fund of between N250bn and N300bn in a matter of weeks.

CBN adjusts forex peg as naira hits N228 per dollar

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday lowered the naira peg to 196.95 against the dollar from 196.90 it set last week.

This made it the fourth time the CBN had adjusted the peg since it was introduced in February, Reuters reported.

This happened just as the naira tumbled further to 228 against the dollar at the parallel market on Tuesday from 265 on Monday.

Reuters reported that the yield on the Federal Government’s 2024 bond in the JP Morgan Government Bond Index rose by 40 basis point to 14.74 per cent.

Naira Faces Fresh Pressure, Falls To 222 Per Dollar

The naira, which rose to 180 against the dollar shortly after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari about a month ago, has fallen to 222 at the parallel market due to a huge demand for dollars by importers and investors.

Increasing business activities have made importers and investors to move their foreign exchange demands to the parallel market, putting pressure on the naira at the segment, it was learnt on Tuesday.

The dollar was sold for between 220 and 222 on the streets of Lagos, Abuja and Kano on Tuesday, while the pounds and euro were sold for 350 and 249, respectively.