The naira brought a welcome boost to the official foreign exchange market on Monday, appreciating significantly against the dollar to kick off the week on a positive note.
According to the latest exchange data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the naira saw a notable shift, strengthening to N1,529.71 per dollar on Monday. This marks a gain of N9.53 when compared to the N1,539.24 it traded for just last Friday.
However, the story was different on the black market. There, the nation’s currency held steady at N1,570 per dollar on Monday, mirroring the exchange rate observed at the close of last week’s trading.
This encouraging development in the official market comes even as Nigeria’s external reserves have experienced a dip, shedding $3.5 billion within the first half of 2025. Specifically, the reserves stood at $37.369 billion on June 26, 2025, down from $40.877 billion at the close of last year.
It’s worth noting that last Friday saw a contrasting performance: the naira had dropped in the official foreign exchange market but had managed to appreciate in the parallel market.
