Naira Depletes to N1,473/$1 at Official Market, N1,485/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a bad day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, October 15 as forex sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to banks have slowed down sharply amid the flooding of the currency market by exporters and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) inflows, placing pressure on the local currency.

In the parallel market, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar yesterday by N5 to trade at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,480/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the local currency slumped against the greenback at midweek by N10.06 or 0.69 per cent to close at N1,473.29/$1 compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N1,463.23/$1.

In the same vein, the domestic currency crumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N20.45 to quote at N1,966.11/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,945.66/£1, and declined against the Euro by N17.83 to N1,712.26/€1 from N1,694.43/€1.

At the GTBank, one of the authorised FX dealers in the country, its Naira-Dollar exchange rate was flat at N1,470/$1 on Wednesday.

Analysts are anticipating that exchange rate will improve as inflation eased below 20 per cent, settling at 18.02 per cent in September 2025, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

Investment firm, CardinalStone, in a note said “the ongoing disinflationary trends bode well for currency valuation. Combined with a sustained current account surplus and a steady build-up in FX reserves, this is expected to underpin further Naira appreciation. “

Nigeria’s gross external reserves rose by $43.0 million to $42.63 billion as of October 13, 2025, supported by oil earnings, diaspora remittances, and foreign portfolio inflows, reinforcing confidence in the foreign exchange market.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained down amid tensions between the US and the China despite expectations that the US central bank will continue easing monetary policy.

In its Beige Book released Wednesday, a summary of economic conditions across the Federal Reserve’s 12 regional banks, the central bank reported signs of growing weakness in the labour market, suggesting market anticipation of rate cuts at both of its remaining policy meetings this year remains on track.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell avoided specifics on rates during remarks Tuesday but acknowledged “softness” in the labour market, reinforcing market’s belief that further policy easing is on the table.

Solana (SOL) slumped by 5.5 per cent to $192.88, Cardano (ADA) slid by 4.2 per cent to $0.6686, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.7 per cent to $94.57, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 3.5 per cent to $0.1963, Ripple (XRP) went down by 3.4 per cent to $2.41, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 2.4 per cent to $4,004.06, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 1.1 per cent to sell at $111,007.17, and Binance Coin (BNB) crashed by 0.4 per cent to $1,183.13, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.