The naira closed the week on a negative note at the parallel foreign exchange market, depreciating further against the US dollar.
On Friday, Bureau de Change operator Abubakar Alhasan, based in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, confirmed that the naira fell to ₦1,635 per dollar, compared to ₦1,625 recorded on Thursday.
“On Friday we buy at ₦1,625 per dollar and sell at ₦1,635,” he stated.
This indicates a daily loss of ₦10 against the dollar at the unofficial market.
Conversely, the naira recorded a slight gain at the official exchange window. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the currency appreciated marginally to ₦1,598.72 per dollar on Friday, from ₦1,599.32 on Thursday — a modest improvement of ₦0.60.
Throughout the week, the naira experienced mixed trading patterns, though it posted more gains than losses across various exchange platforms.
This comes amid fresh economic data from the National Bureau of Statistics, which revealed that Nigeria’s headline inflation eased slightly to 23.7 percent in April.
All eyes are now on the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is scheduled to meet on 19 and 20 May to determine whether to hold or tighten the country’s monetary policy stance.
At its last meeting in February, the MPC maintained the benchmark interest rate at 27.50 percent.
