Chinwendu Obienyi
The volume of transactions particularly, the Fixed Income and Currency (FIC) at the FMDQ Securities Exchange fell by 1.64 per cent from N119.22 trillion recorded the first six months of 2019 to N117.27 trillion in 2020.
According to data from the Exchange’s website, analysis of the performance showed that N16.47 trillion was recorded in June of 2020, up by 39.81 per cent from N11.78 trillion in May while breakdown of the report indicated that open market operations (OMO) and money market transactions remained the highest contributors to the FIC markets in June, accounting for 55.44 per cent of the total market turnover.
The report stated that Foreign Exchange (FX) turnover during the period stood at N3.34 trillion or 8.63 billion dollars, representing a month-on-month (MoM) increase of 13.25 per cent. An analysis of FX market turnover indicated an increase in FX market activity by product type, with FX Derivatives accounting for 91.09 per cent ($0.92 billion) of the total increase in FX turnover in June.
In June, the naira depreciated against the United States dollar at the Investors’ and Exporters’ FX Window, losing $/N0.22 to close at an average of $/N386.39 in June 2020 from $/N386.17 recorded in May.
Similarly, in the parallel market, the naira depreciated against the US dollar by N3.66 to close at an average of N452.38 during the period under review. The average Central Bank of Nigeria Official Spot US$/N exchange rate remained flat at $/N361.00 in June 2020, similar to the average rate recorded in May 2020, while the naira depreciated against the dollar at the Investors and Exporters’ window, losing $/N0.22 to close at an average of $/N386.39 in June 2020, from $/N386.17 recorded in May 2020.
Total value of T.bills outstanding remained flat at N2.76 trillion as at June 30, 2020 from May 29, 2020 representing a year-to-date (YTD) increase of 6.98 per cent. However, the value of Open market operation (OMO) bills outstanding as at June 30, 2020, decreased to N9.15 trillion, representing a YTD decrease of 29.67 per cent.
Furthermore, the total outstanding value of FGN Bonds as at June 30, 2020 increased marginally by 1.00 per cent to N10.13 trillion from N10.03 trillion recorded as at May 29, 2020, which indicates a YTD increase of 7.42 per cent. In the secondary market, turnover for T.bills increased by 446.67 per cent to N1.64 trillion, representing the highest turnover recorded in T.bills since November 2019, when bills (T.bills and OMO bills) were bifurcated due to the circulars issued by the CBN in October 2019.