Naira Strengthens at Inter-bank as CBN Clarifies on Denominated cards

Naira on Thursday strengthened against the US dollar, gaining N0.51k/$ or 0.26 percent at the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

 

After trading on Thursday, the local currency closed at N197.53/$ as against N198.04/$ the previous day, according to data obtained from Financial Markets Dealers Quotation (FMDQ).

At the bureau de change segment of the foreign exchange market, naira exchanged for N219/$ compared to N220/$ the previous day, representing N1.00k depreciation.

On Wednesday, naira strengthened 0.2 percent against the USD at the inter-bank and -7.2 percent year-to-date. Inter-bank performance was driven by USD supplies from the CBN, in addition to USD sales by oil companies, Ecobank report revealed.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given more clarification on usage of naira denominated cards overseas.

The apex bank had reduced the usage of naira denominated cards for transactions overseas to $50,000 per person per annum, representing 66.7 percent below $150,000 it stood.

Olakanmi Gbadamosi, director, trade and exchange department, CBN, in a circular released yesterday stated clearly that debit/credit cards used locally are not affected by the circular.

Gbadamosi also stated that debit/credit cards linked to customers domiciliary account to be used overseas are also not affected