AS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS START TO COME IN, THE VALUE OF THE NAIRA DECLINES AT I&E.

As the nation waits for the results of last Saturday's presidential election to come in, the Naira's value decreased against the US Dollar in the official market section of the forex market on Monday.

Statistics made it known that the Naira value increased on the black market and in peer-to-peer transactions, but decreased in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market (P2P).

In the I&E window, the Nigerian Naira fell by 93 Kobo, or 0.18 percent, to trade at N462.00/$1, down from the N461.17/$1.

The value of FX transactions decreased by 59.2%, or $78.93 million, to $54.37 million during the session from the $133.30 million reached the day before.

The local currency increased yesterday by N1 in the P2P window to sell at N768/$.

Similar to this, the Naira gained 13 Naira on the black market against the US dollar, closing at N750/$1 as opposed to N763/$1 last Friday.

The Naira lost 12 Kobo against the pound sterling in the interbank market, closing at N552.52/£1 versus N552.40/£1, but gained 58 Kobo against the euro, closing at N486.97£1 versus N487.55/£1.

Bitcoin (BTC) moved beyond $23,000 in the cryptocurrency market, although, it continued with a number of US data points that were insufficient to justify inflationary fears. It decreased by 0.08 percent to trade at $23,395.74 at the close of session.

Litecoin (LTC) down by 0.7% to trade at $93.91, Ethereum (ETH) lost 0.5% to trade at $1,628.00, Solana (SOL) fell by 2.4% to $22.33, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.8% to $303.77.

In contrast, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 0.9% to $0.0822, Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.4% to $0.3782, and Cardano (ADA) increased by 0.3% to $0.3647, while the prices of US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) remained unchanged at $1 apiece.

After Nigerian banks' decision to limit clients' FX expenditure and the lack of fresh banknotes after the apex bank introduced the newly redesigned naira, increased demand for the dollar kept pressure on the naira.

Yet, when manufacturers, exporters, and importers alike reignited their demand for the dollar and went on the hunt for FX and for commercial purposes, the new year was greeted with currency scarcity.

This week, demand for both the dollar and local money will increase as the deadline for submitting outdated banknotes draws near. On the black market, however, the US dollar had gained ground against the weakening naira. Through the black-market Bureau De Change window, the cost to buy a US dollar rose by N2.

Due to the strengthening of the dollar, the value of the naira fell by 0.2%, with the exchange rate between the two currencies ending the day at N745 to $1. Comparatively, the rate that was finalized the day before was N743/$1.

Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spending $15.3 billion to strengthen the local currency in the FX market, the naira has struggled to hold its value against the naira since 2022.