For the second time this week, the naira appreciated significantly against the United States dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the country’s official exchange rate window.
The naira recovered from N837.77/$1, on Monday, to N806.73/$1, on Tuesday, after it slumped to N927.19/$1 on Friday, December 1, 2023 at the official market.
According to Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees foreign exchange (FX) trading in Nigeria, the rate recovered from the N830.90/$1 it opened on Tuesday to close N806.73/$1, thereby, gaining by N24.
The recovery was against the report of the National Bureau of Statistics ‘Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q3 2023),’ report that Nigeria’s foreign trade in the third quarter of 2023 rose by 53.16 per cent year-on-year to N 18.80tn.
According to the report, crude oil revenue surged by 83.23 per cent to N8.54tn in the quarter under review. In the third quarter of 2022, total crude oil sales amounted to N4.66tn.
Buoyed by an increase in trade activities in the period, total exports increased by 60.78 per cent to N10.35tn.
The report, released on Monday, read in part, “Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N18.80tn in Q3, 2023. The value indicates an increase of 54.62 per cent over the amount recorded in Q2, 2023 as well as by 53.16 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q3 2022.
“Total exports accounted for 55.02 per cent of total trade in the reviewed quarter with a value of N10.35tn, showing an increase of 60.78 per cent and 74.36 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding and corresponding quarters respectively.
“Exports trade in the third quarter of 2023 was dominated by crude oil exports valued at N8,535.61 billion representing 82.50 per cent of total exports while the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N1.81tn accounting for 17.50 per cent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N677.57bn or 6.55 per cent of total exports.
“On the other hand, the share of total imports accounted for 44.98 per cent of total trade in the third quarter of 2023 with the value of imports amounting to N8.46tn in Q3, 2023. This value indicates an increase of 47.70 per cent and 33.33 per cent respectively over the value (N5.73tn) and (N6.34tn) recorded in the preceding and the corresponding quarters of 2022.”