The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, June 19 amid forex liquidity strain.
During the trading session, the domestic currency gained N2.84 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback in the official market to settle at N1,547.71/$1, in contrast to the N1,550.55/$1 traded in the previous day.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira gained N2.76 against the Pound Sterling at NAFEM yesterday to quote at N2,081..36/£1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N2,084.12/£1 and closed flat against the Euro to finish at N1,799.35/€1.
Also, in the parallel market, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar on Friday by N5 to sell for N1,580/$1 compared with the N1,585/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
This week, the Naira performed well due to continued investor confidence and market optimism boosted by better non-oil exports over the last few months and offshore FX inflows, which eased forex pressure.
In the week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased further to 22.97 per cent in May 2025 from the 23.71 per cent recorded in April 2025.
In addition, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled that the health of the country’s banking system was okay amid fears of dividend pause for banks facing possible distress.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market turned bearish on Friday following escalating geopolitical tensions — triggered by Israel launching airstrikes on Iran last Thursday — caused cryptos to drop.
The tensions have only been mounting since, with US President Donald Trump calling for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and threatening Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ethereum (ETH) lost 3.8 per cent to sell at $2,424.38, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.5 per cent to close at $140.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $0.1630, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 1.3 per cent to trade at $0.5836.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 1.1 per cent to close at $103,555.63, Ripple (XRP) went down by 0.6 per cent to $2.12, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 0.6 per cent to $83.97, and Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 0.3 per cent to $643.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.