Official Exchange Rate Closes Week At N1,548.25/$1

The official exchange rate ends the week at N1,548.25 to the dollar while the CBN cracks down on illegal activity.

The Naira ended the week at N1,548.25/$1, up from the previous day's rate of N1,595.11/$1, as it showed a positive trend against the US dollar in the official market.

The currency's value was being driven lower by persistent demand pressures when this uptick happened.

Concurrently, there was a significant surge in foreign exchange turnover, which increased by 36.32% to $296 million. Increased participation in the foreign exchange market is reflected in this spike in trading activity.

Implementing decisive actions against suspected illegal activities

The recent increase is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) forceful actions against alleged illegal activities involving cryptocurrency trading platform Binance and Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.

Additionally, Binance was hit with a hefty $10 billion fine by the Federal Government, which claimed that Binance was responsible for aggravating Nigeria's foreign exchange problems.

The government intends to provide $20,000 to each qualified Bureau De Change (BDC) operator across the country in an effort to close the growing disparity in the exchange rate.

These measures are expected to provide the market with much-needed liquidity, which will help to stabilize the value of the Naira.

The domestic currency increased by 3.03% at the end of the week, closing at N1,548.25 to a dollar at the close of business, according to data from the NAFEM (Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market), where forex is officially traded.

Comparing this to the N1,595.11 closing on Thursday, the local currency has increased by 3.03%, or N46.86.

The spread of N252.4/$1 was represented by the intraday low of N1400/$1 and the intraday high of N1652.40/$1.

The official NAFEM window provided the data indicating that the closing forex turnover at the end of trading was $296,00 million, up 36.32% from the day before.