Results Are In: Nigeria’s New Official Exchange Rate After Currency Float

The official floating of the Naira opened at the Interbank on Monday, 20th of June after decades of a Naira peg by successive Nigerian Governments and Central Bank Governors.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had last Wednesday announced to the world that Nigeria would be introducing a new exchange rate policy that will see the price of the dollar dictated by market forces rather than a fixed exchange rate.

We have been monitoring activities all day and after several speculations can now reveal a summary of what transpired at the market.

Highlights

• The naira was quoted at 254 when the interbank foreign-exchange market opened on Monday, removing the peg of 197-199 that the central bank had in place from February 2015.
• Amount sold was  US$532,867,169.11
• The highest rate bidder for the day was NGN382.00/US$
• The lowest rate traded on Monday NGN197.00/US$
• The exchange rate closed at NGN280.00/US$ according to Reuters
• The official closing rate aka spot rate for the day was N281.85
• No of banks that traded today were 21
• The exchange rate therefore depreciated by 46% assuming FMDQ spot rates
• Our sources indicate Parallel market rates closed at N345
• According to Reuters “The central bank started auctioning dollars in the spot and forwards markets around midday to try and clear a backlog of orders for hard currency.”
•  They also reveal that “the central bank started auctioning dollars in the spot and forwards markets around midday to try and clear a backlog of orders for hard currency”.

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