Nigeria’s naira posted a fourth straight daily gain against the US dollar in the official foreign-exchange window on Thursday, although it weakened further in the parallel market as external reserves declined.
Official market records another gain
- Central Bank of Nigeria data showed the currency closed at N1,346.91 to the dollar on Thursday.
- This compared with N1,347.53 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating a day-on-day appreciation of N0.62.
- The naira has now advanced against the dollar in the official market on each trading day so far this week.
Parallel-market pressure and reserves
- In the black market, however, the naira continued to lose ground, trading at N1,390 per dollar on Thursday versus N1,385 a day earlier.
- The divergent moves came as Nigeria’s external reserves fell to $55.26 billion, marking their first decline after an extended period of increases.
