By Bamidele Famoofo
Transaction turnover in the Fixed Income and Currency (FIC) markets for the month of May amounted to N14.30trillion, a 4.30 percent (N0.64trn) decrease from the value recorded in April and a 50.60 percent (N4.80trn) increase Year on Year.
Activities in the Treasury bills’ market accounted for 39.49 percent (45.85% in April) of total turnover, while the Foreign Exchange (FX) market accounted for 36.42 percent (36.60% in April) of the total turnover.
In the same period, the Money Market (Repurchase Agreements (Repos)/Buy-Backs & Unsecured Placements/Takings) accounted for 17.55 percent of market turnover (11.17% in April). These three segments collectively contributed circa 93.47 percent to the total turnover in the FIC markets.
The value of transactions in the FX Market settled at $14.77billion in May, a decrease of 10.31 percent ($1.70bn) when compared with the value recorded in April ($16.47bn). Liquidity flows via the I&E FX Window increased as the total volumes traded for the month settled at $6.40billion, representing a 34.91 percent ($1.65bn) increase from the previous month ($4.74bn).
So far, the total volumes traded at the Window Year-to-Date stands at $26.35billion. Exchange rates for the Naira depreciated at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window as rates closed the reporting month at $/N360.97 from $/N360.51 as at April 30, 2018, whilst also trading at a discount to the Parallel Market as rates closed the reporting month at $/N363.00 from $/N362.00 as at April 30, 2018.
