Naira sinks to 1,665/$ on official market as liquidity dips

The naira closed at a new record high of 1,665.50 per dollar on the official foreign exchange market on Friday as turnover for the week dropped 16.42 percent.

It weakened to as low as 1,805/$ during the day, according to data released Saturday by FMDQ, a Lagos-based securities exchange. 

The total turnover in the FX spot and derivatives markets fell to $890.65 million from $1,065.66 million last week.

It said the liquidity in the FX spot market declines to $887.65 million from $1,063.42 million, while that of the derivatives market rose by $0.76 million attributed to the increase in FX Forwards turnover.

“There were no trades executed in both the Exchange-Traded FX Futures and Cleared Naira-Settled Non-Deliverable Forwards markets,” it said.

The average Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing rate was N1,568.22/$, compared to N1,514.87/$ last week, according to FMDQ.