Exchange rate ends week strong at N1,579/$1 on official market, stabilizes across forex channels 

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) show the currency strengthened from Thursday’s closing rate of N1,586/$1, which marked its only depreciation for the week.

Earlier in the week, the naira recorded a consistent upward trend—trading at N1,597/$1 on Monday, N1,588.5/$1 on Tuesday, and N1,583/$1 on Wednesday.

According to the CBN, the naira traded within a range of N1,585/$1 (high) and N1,575.13/$1 (low) on Friday, with a simple average rate of N1,581.59/$1.

On a week-on-week basis, the naira appreciated compared to its closing rate of N1,599.01/$1 on Friday, May 16, ahead of this week’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the CBN.

The naira also showed mixed performance against other major currencies. Against the British pound, it closed at N2,136.75/£1 on Friday—down from N2,127.96/£1 on Thursday, and slightly weaker than N2,126.23/£1 on Wednesday. In contrast, the naira gained against the euro, closing at N1,791.95/€1, an improvement from N1,795.07/€1 the previous day.

At the parallel market, the naira maintained stability, closing at N1,620/$1 on both Thursday and Friday. This followed an appreciation from N1,625/$1 on Wednesday and N1,627/$1 on Monday, based on market data from Lagos.

The pound sterling was exchanged at N2,150/£1 on Friday, slightly weaker than N2,135/£1 on Thursday, but stronger than N2,155/£1 on Wednesday and N2,145/£1 on Tuesday. It had opened the week at N2,142/£1. Against the euro, the naira slipped to N1,835/€1 on Thursday, from N1,820/€1 on Monday and Wednesday, though slightly stronger than Tuesday’s N1,825/€1.

Chairman of First Holdco Plc, Femi Otedola, praised President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms and the CBN’s policy direction under Governor Yemi Cardoso. Speaking at the company’s 13th Annual General Meeting, Otedola said:

 “I commend the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Yemi Cardoso, for his courageous and pragmatic policy reforms. His actions are restoring credibility to the financial system and giving investors like me the confidence to commit long-term capital to this country.”

Business mogul Tony Elumelu, Chairman of United Bank for Africa and a member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council, echoed similar sentiments at the Qatar Economic Forum:

“The naira is becoming quite stable. …. Currency volatility is a challenge for Africa and Asia. In the global south, fixing the volatility of our currencies will be very critical for ultimately developing our economies.”

The recent stability in the naira is largely credited to CBN interventions, including the clearance of outstanding dollar backlogs, the introduction of high-yield fixed-income instruments to attract portfolio inflows, and measures to improve forex supply in the market.

Despite the policy momentum, the CBN maintained its benchmark interest rate at 27.5%, marking the second consecutive hold this year.