Nigeria’s currency on Monday strengthened against dollar by 0.26 percent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) admitted that Naira has devalued for the third time.

“In order to adjust for the decrease in supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated at the official window from N305/$ to N360/$ and now hovers around N410/$,” Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN said Friday.

However this is yet to be reflected on the CBN’s website and the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) window.

After trading on Monday, Naira closed at N409.20k per dollar as against N410.25k closed on Friday. Currency traders who participated in the trading on Monday maintained bids at between N381.00k and N415.00k/$, according to data from the FMDQ.

The daily foreign exchange market declined by 34.97 percent to $24.38 million on Monday from $37.49 million closed on Friday.

The local currency steadied at N482 and N480 to the dollar at parallel market and Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market.

Nigeria’s external reserves have declined to $35.17 billion as at February 24, 2021 according to the data on the CBN website.

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At money market, the Nigeria treasury bills secondary market closed on a flat note on Monday, with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 1.49 percent, a report by FSDH research stated.

Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 0.57 percent, 1.48 percent, and 2.01 percent, respectively.

The Overnight (O/N) rate increased by 0.42 percent to close at 6.75 percent as against the last close of 6.33 percent, and the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate increased by 0.33 percent to close at 6.00 percent from 5.67 percent on the previous day.

“We expect money market rates to remain subdued in the absence of funding obligations, barring any mop-up activity by the CBN,” analysts at FSDH said.

In the Open Market Operation (OMO) bills market, the average yield across the curve increased by 6 bps to close at 6.15 percent as against the last close of 6.09 percent.

Selling pressure was seen across long-term maturities with average yields expanding by 9 bps, while the average yields on short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 3.30 percent and 5.07 percent, respectively. Maximum selling pressure was witnessed in the OMO 25-Jan-22 (+75 bps) and OMO 18-Jan-22 (+37 bps) maturity bills, while yields on 15 bills remained unchanged.

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.

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