Naira Rally Stalls, Sheds 0.42% to Trade N1,321/$1 at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The recent positive run of the Naira hit a snag on Friday after it weakened by 0.42 per cent or N5.55 against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to trade at N1,321.22/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,315.67/$1.

The Nigerian currency also depreciated in the official market against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N7.36 to close at N1,786.02/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,778.66/£1, and lost N5.27 against the Euro to sell for N1,529.59/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing rate of N1,534.86/€1.

But at the GTBank FX counter, the Nigerian Naira gained N3 against the US Dollar during the session to settle at N1,332/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,335/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,370/$1.

Despite the poor outcome on Friday, the local currency has staged a notable recovery this year, clawing back part of the steep losses it suffered after the foreign exchange reforms introduced by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The turnaround has been driven by improved liquidity in the foreign exchange market, a tighter monetary policy stance and a series of measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen market efficiency and restore stability. Nigeria’s external reserves have also strengthened, rising to $53.9 billion, their highest level in about 18 years.

The stronger performance marks a shift from the sharp depreciation recorded in 2023 and 2024, when the removal of longstanding exchange-rate controls triggered significant pressure on the currency.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 1.5 per cent to $79,706.24 as September rate hike expectations shot higher on the news that US jobs data for August came in far stronger than expected, with 162,000 jobs added. BTC fell 1.5 per cent to sell at $79,706.24.

The country’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 per cent, giving the US Federal Reserve more rationale to lift interest rates at its policy meeting in less than two weeks.

Cardano (ADA) shed 3.8 per cent to finish at $0.2131, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.0 per cent to $1.40, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 2.3 per cent to $2,454.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined by 1.8 per cent to $0.0856, and Solana (SOL) decreased by 1.4 per cent to $102.29.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) rose by 1.4 per cent to $0.3328, and Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.9 per cent to $726.98, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00, respectively.