WATCH THE VIDEO HERE The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 0.04 per cent or 53 Kobo on Tuesday, February 18 to sell for N1,509.57/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,510.10/$1, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In the same vein, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by 21 Kobo during the session to sell at N1,900.46/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,900.67/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N7.38 to quote at N1,576.10/€1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,566.23/€1. Nigeria’s annual inflation rate stood at 24.48 per cent in January after the country’s price index was rebased for the first time in more than a decade. Last month, before the rebasing, the statistics office put December inflation at 34.80 per cent year on year. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the rebasing was updated from 2009 to 2024 to reflect necessary changes in consumption patterns. According to the head of the NBS, Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, the latest data should not be interpreted as reflecting a sharp slowdown in inflation. “It’s not saying prices have come down in the market to this rate, but the rate of change between 2024 January and 2025 January is what the inflation rate is all about,” Mr Adeniran said. In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira gained N15 against the US Dollar on Tuesday to quote at N1,545/$1 compared with the preceding trading session’s value of N1,560/$1. Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, crypto prices experienced a positive outcome following recovery from the fallout from LIBRA, the latest scandalous pump-and-dump token launch that put several key figures in the Solana space and even Argentina’s President Javier Milei under scrutiny. Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 8.4 per cent to $131.90, Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $0.2524, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.3 per cent to $2,702.99, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 1.2 per cent to $655.55, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.4 per cent to trade at $167.95, and Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.2 per cent to $95,538.25. Conversely, Cardano (ADA) slid by 4.7 per cent to $0.7483, Ripple (XRP) lost 1.1 per cent to sell at $2.54, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) dropped 0.03 per cent to quote at $0.9996, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00.
Naira Now N1,509/$1 at Official Market, N1,545/$1 at Black Market
