The Nigerian naira showed a significant recovery in the parallel market on Monday, appreciating by N5 against the US dollar. The currency traded at N1,605/$1 (selling) and N1,602/$1 (buying), a slight improvement from Friday’s rate of N1,610/$1. This marks a positive shift for the naira after a period of fluctuations in recent weeks.
Despite the recovery in the parallel market, there remains a notable gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported that on Saturday, the official rates were N1,477.2/$1 (buying) and N1,478.2/$1 (selling), highlighting the difference between the regulated market and the informal one.
January 2025 ended on a strong note for the naira, closing at N1,475/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX). This marked the currency’s best performance since June 2024 and reflected a month-on-month appreciation of 3.91%, a gain of N60 from the previous month’s rate of N1,535/$1.
The parallel market also saw some changes in the exchange rates for other major currencies. The British Pound (GBP) traded at N2,010, showing a 1.00% increase, while the Euro remained stable at N1,670. However, minor fluctuations were observed, with the GBP moving up by 0.50% and the Euro seeing a slight rise of 0.91%.
The recent positive movement in the naira’s exchange rate comes amid continued efforts by the CBN to stabilize the currency and manage the volatility in the parallel market. Experts will be closely monitoring the naira’s performance as Nigeria works through its economic challenges in the year ahead.
Source: Nariametrics