Naira maintains gain across markets

The naira, on Thursday, maintained gain across foreign exchange (FX) markets following increased liquidity.

After trading on Thursday, the naira appreciated by 0.97 percent as the dollar was quoted at N1,644.86 compared to N1,660.83 seen on Wednesday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited showed.

The FX witnessed increased liquidity as the daily turnover rose by 66.24 percent to $560.34 million on Thursday from $337.07 million recorded on Wednesday at the NAFEM.

According to the data from the FMDQ, the intraday high closed at N1,701 per dollar, slightly higher than N1,706 reported on Wednesday. The intraday low appreciated to N1,557 on the same day as against N1,651 quoted on the previous day.

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The local currency steadied at N1,750 per dollar on the parallel market also known as the black market.

The naira closed flat at the official foreign exchange (FX) market and steadied at N1,750 per dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday, a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the monetary policy rate (MPR) by 25 basis points to 27.50 percent, to rein in the persistent rise in inflation.

On Tuesday, the CBN issued a directive mandating all banks in the interbank foreign exchange market to transition to the Bloomberg BMatch system for FX trading.

This implementation, set to go live on December 2, 2024, is designed to boost the operational efficiency and transparency of the nation’s FX market.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.