According to data from the FMDQ Security Exchange, the official exchange rate for the Naira to the US dollar opened at ₦781.49 per dollar and closed at ₦770.72 per $1 on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the unification of all forex exchange market segments on June 14, 2023. The various FX windows have been collapsed into the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window. The “Willing Buyer, Willing Seller” model has been reintroduced at the I&E Window, and operations in this window will follow existing guidelines. Government-related transactions will use the weighted average rate of the previous day’s I&E window transactions as the operational rate. Trading limits on oversold FX positions have been proscribed, and hedging short positions with OTC futures is permitted.
Order-based two-way quotes have been reintroduced with a bid-ask spread of N1, and all transactions will be cleared by a Central Counter Party (CCP). An Order Book has also been reintroduced to ensure transparent orders and seamless trade execution. The operational hours for trades are from 9 a.m to 4 p.m, Nigeria time.
These operational changes indicate that Nigeria has eased its control over the Naira, allowing the local currency to freely float based on market forces.