Nigeria’s currency on Thursday strengthened by 4. 95 percent as the dollar which had risen to N505 suddenly crashed to N480 on the black market, putting speculators in a loss position.

Read Also: Naira touches four-year low as Nigerians buy Dollar for storage

This implies that for every dollar speculator bought at N505 on Wednesday they have lost N25 a day after.

The naira appreciation followed an undisclosed amount of dollar supply by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deposit money banks to meet the eligible needs of end-users.

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Akintunde Olusegun, an analyst at Polaris Bank Limited confirmed to BusinessDay that the CBN supplied dollars to banks and the Bureau De Change (BDCs).

“The CBN has released money to the banks and promised to release to us (BDCs) too. the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has been partnering with the CBN to ensure that the exchange rate comes down,” an official of the BDC association said anonymously.

The Apex bank recently announced an increase in the amount of foreign exchange allocated to banks to meet customers’ eligible transaction needs.

During the intraday trading on Thursday, the dollar was trading between N480 (buying) and N485 (selling) at Lagos street markets. Elsewhere in the country, the dollar was selling at N487.

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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