Naira trades at N520/£, gains against Euro at parallel market

The Nigerian currency, Naira on Thursday traded at N520 against the pounds, however, gained 2.22per cent against Euro to close at N440 at the parallel market.

Considering the closing rate of the local currency against the Pound, it showed that the naira lost 1.92 per cent . Although, it remained flat against dollar to close at N437 on Thursday.

However, at the Investors & Exporter Foreign Exchange (I& EFX) window, the Naira gained 0.07per cent and 0.05per cent against the pounds and euro to close at N477.98 and N418.18 respectively, it closed flat at N384.50 against the dollar.

However, the country’s five years onshore Non-Deliverable forward contract posted its biggest drop by plunging 27per cent from N413.36 to close at N569.69 a price differential of N156.

The 1-year Non-Deliverable forward contract was down five per cent from N394.29 to close at N421.22 a price differential of N26.93.

The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been struggling to stabilize Nigeria’s currency exchange rate because of historical low crude prices and the shutdown of economic activities in major cities of Nigeria

Plunging crude oil prices has negatively disrupted the economy of Africa’s biggest oil producer, just as the onslaught of Covid-19 closed businesses and disrupted human activities of people to contain. Months ago CBN devalued the naira against the dollar but is still under pressure to devalue the naira even further amid a scarcity of U.S dollars and poor export earnings.

“Going forward, we expect the foreign exchange market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies,” analysts at InvestmentOne Research explained.

The Money market rates fell on Thursday as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates decreased by 150basis points and 125basis points to close at two per cent and three per cent respectively.

The bond market was broadly flat today as yields remained unchanged across most maturities. While the yields on the 5yr and 7yr benchmark bonds rose by 94 basis points and 24 basis points respectively, the yield closed flat on the 10-year benchmark bond at 10.88 per cent.

Ecobank Nigeria opens more branches nationwide, encourages customers to obey COVID-19 rules

Ecobank Nigeria has encouraged its customers to obey the COVID-19 rules, emphasizing the importance of social distancing to check the spread of the Coronavirus, especially when visiting the branches.

The bank which gave this advice in a mail to customers also thanked them for their dedication and continued patronage while confirming that more branches are being opened to decongest those already opened for business since the easing off of lockdowns across the country.

Responding to media enquiries in Lagos, Head of Branch Network, Ecobank Nigeria, Titiloye Olarinde said Ecobank takes the safety of customers and staff very seriously and has therefore put in place measures to ensure they are safe when they visit the branches.

According to her, temperature checks and wearing of masks are compulsory for both staff & customers before admittance to any bank premises; provision and mandatory use of hand sanitizers before accessing the branch or ATM Gallery while regular deep cleaning of work surfaces and ATM areas is ensured.

She also stated that only five customers are allowed into the banking hall at a time and appealed for cooperation with security personnel as their actions are all in a bid to keep everyone safe.

“We are operating in line with the health and safety guidelines issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. With the opening of additional branches, we are able to meet customers’ needs in a safe and conducive environment.

“Key services available at our branches include ATM services, assistance to onboard to our Digital platforms, account opening and over the counter services for essential cash and cheque transactions”, she noted.