Naira on Tuesday afternoon fell to an all-time low of N1,050 per dollar following strong demand for dollars at the parallel market, popularly called the black market.

This represents a marginal depreciation of 0.09 per cent (N1) compared to N1,049 traded in the morning.

The local currency remained steady at N1,049 per dollar since Friday at the parallel market, also known as the black market.

One of the traders said on Tuesday that individuals who want to travel for business, school, health and tourism are buying dollars from the street traders because they could not meet their demands from the official market.

Nigeria’s currency weakened against the dollar on Monday as foreign exchange (FX) market liquidity declined by 18.72 percent at the official market.

The FX market closed on Monday with the dollar being quoted at N778.80 as against N764.86 quoted on Friday at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) forex window, Nigeria’s official foreign exchange market.

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According to the data obtained from the FMDQ, the daily foreign exchange market turnover, which reflects the level of liquidity or transaction in the market, declined by 18.72 to $43.09 billion on Monday from $53.02 billion recorded on Friday.

Read also Naira weakens as dollar liquidity decline

As part of its responsibility to ensure price stability, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it will boost liquidity in the Nigerian foreign exchange market by interventions from time to time.

“As market liquidity improves, these CBN interventions will gradually decrease”, the CBN said.

Nigeria’s Central Bank said it will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian foreign exchange market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a Willing Buyer – Willing Seller principle.

The CBN reiterates that the prevailing FX rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates.

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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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