See New Rate As Naira Continues Free Fall Against The Dollar

Naira fell further on Monday, January 15th, 2024 and traded at about N1272/$ in the early hours of Monday from the weekend’s rate of N1255/$ on the P2P market, an unofficial market actively traded by crypto traders, retail investors, and speculators.

Gatekeepers New reports that the exchange rate for a Dollar to Naira on the physical black market traded for about N1,260 against the greenback

This is attributed to the Afrexim Bank’s successful disbursement of the first tranche of the $3.3 billion crude oil repayment loan to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

Gatekeepers New, at the weekend, reported Afrexim Bank confirmed the disbursal of an initial $2.25 billion and noted that a second tranche of $1.05 million is expected to be disbursed subsequently.

The dollar index was up by about 0.1% in London trade on Monday, as markets appeared to have largely maintained their expectations of early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The US Dollar Index’s failed breakout at above 103 index points and sharp bearish reversal suggests that a near-term peak may be in play for the naira and the path of least resistance should give the naira some buying time to recover.

Nigeria’s naira is likely its band this week at the official market as businesses resume activity as bulls remain neutral on the dollar index

Currency traders were pricing in a 70% likelihood of a 25-basis point drop in March, according to the CME Fedwatch tool, up from a 64% possibility observed a week earlier.