By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian naira depreciated by N3.43, or 0.25%, against the US dollar on Tuesday, July 14, closing at N1,383.08 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), down from the prior day’s N1,379.65.
The naira also declined versus the British pound, falling N6.80 to N1,848.18 per pound, compared with Monday’s close of N1,854.98, and dropped N7.37 against the euro to N1,583.76 per euro, from the previous session’s N1,576.39.
In the parallel market, the naira fell N5 to N1,405 per dollar, down from N1,400 the day before. Meanwhile, the GTBank foreign‑exchange desk remained unchanged at N1,388 per dollar.
A market squeeze emerged as demand surged, with total dollar volume hovering near $1 billion. Interbank turnover in the NFEM jumped to $243.095 million, an 182% increase from $86.136 million the previous day.
Interbank transactions rose to 140 from 85 reported at the official window on Monday, reflecting a sharp increase in large‑scale currency trading in the wholesale foreign‑exchange market.
Fluctuations in the NFEM window were driven by shifting supply and demand dynamics. Nonetheless, FX analysts remain bullish on the naira, citing gross external reserves nearing $52 billion.
Robust foreign reserves have bolstered market confidence, attracting continued inflows of foreign portfolio investment into the fixed‑income sector.
Additional pressure is anticipated after Dangote Petroleum Refinery abandoned its naira‑denominated fuel pricing and adopted a dollar‑linked framework that directly ties domestic petrol, diesel, and aviation‑fuel costs to exchange‑rate movements.
In the cryptocurrency arena, Bitcoin rose roughly 3.5% to $64,723.42 and Ethereum gained 0.5% to $1,873.15, following a sharper‑than‑expected decline in U.S. inflation that lowered expectations for an imminent Federal Reserve rate increase.
June’s headline inflation eased to 3.5% and core inflation to 2.6%, providing a boost to crypto assets.
Solana advanced 3.8% to $77.90, Ripple rose 3.6% to $1.10, Cardano gained 3.4% to $0.1640, Dogecoin jumped 3.0% to $0.0744, Binance Coin climbed 1.9% to $579.51, and TRON improved 0.7% to $0.3270. Stablecoins USDT and USDC held steady at $1.00.