{"id":528,"date":"2026-05-18T20:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T20:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:09:08","slug":"naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/","title":{"rendered":"Naira Edges Up Against Dollar in Official Market as Reserves Keep Falling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Nigerian naira firmed modestly versus the US dollar in the official foreign-exchange window on Wednesday, pausing a stretch of day-to-day weakness, even as the country\u2019s foreign reserves continued to slide. Central Bank of Nigeria figures indicated the currency strengthened to 1,379.46 per dollar on Wednesday from 1,380.71 on Tuesday\u2014an improvement of 1.25 naira for each dollar.<\/p>\n<h2>Naira steadies in the official FX window<\/h2>\n<p>On a day-to-day basis, the naira\u2019s move meant it gained 1.25 naira against the dollar in the official market. The latest Central Bank data also suggested the break in momentum was limited, as the broader pressure on the currency had persisted in recent sessions.<\/p>\n<h2>Black market rate edges slightly higher<\/h2>\n<p>In parallel trading, the naira was quoted at 1,395 per dollar on Wednesday, compared with 1,393 per dollar on Tuesday, based on comments from Abubakar Hassan, a bureau de change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. The gap between official and parallel pricing remained a key feature of market conditions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Official market: 1,379.46 per dollar on Wednesday versus 1,380.71 on Tuesday<\/li>\n<li>Day-to-day change in official market: a gain of 1.25 naira per dollar<\/li>\n<li>Black market: 1,395 per dollar on Wednesday versus 1,393 per dollar on Tuesday<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Reserves fall further, extending the pressure backdrop<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the small improvement in the official exchange rate, foreign reserves continued to decline. Central Bank of Nigeria data showed reserves dropping to 48.37 billion dollars as of April 28, 2026.<\/p>\n<h2>What the latest figures suggest<\/h2>\n<p>The Wednesday uptick came after the naira had kept depreciating against the dollar at the official foreign exchange market since the previous week, indicating the currency\u2019s correction may be temporary while reserve levels remain under strain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nigerian naira firmed modestly versus the US dollar in the official foreign-exchange window on Wednesday, pausing a stretch of day-to-day weakness, even as the country\u2019s foreign reserves continued to slide. Central Bank of Nigeria figures indicated the currency strengthened to 1,379.46 per dollar on Wednesday from 1,380.71 on Tuesday\u2014an improvement of 1.25 naira for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zalebs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T17:09:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"636\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zibuyile Dladla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zibuyile Dladla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\"},\"headline\":\"Naira Edges Up Against Dollar in Official Market as Reserves Keep Falling\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T17:09:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":280,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/\",\"name\":\"Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T17:09:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\"},\"description\":\"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp\",\"width\":1135,\"height\":636},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Naira Edges Up Against Dollar in Official Market as Reserves Keep Falling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Zalebs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\",\"name\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\"},\"description\":\"Zibuyile began her media journey as a sales intern at Mediamark (Kagiso Media) before moving into digital content creation for ZAlebs.com. Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/za.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/zibuyile-dladla\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall","description":"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall","og_description":"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent","og_url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/","og_site_name":"Zalebs","article_published_time":"2026-05-18T17:09:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1135,"height":636,"url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Zibuyile Dladla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zibuyile Dladla","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/"},"author":{"name":"Zibuyile Dladla","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e"},"headline":"Naira Edges Up Against Dollar in Official Market as Reserves Keep Falling","datePublished":"2026-05-18T17:09:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/"},"wordCount":280,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/","name":"Naira Strengthens in Official FX Market as Reserves Fall","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-18T17:09:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e"},"description":"Naira steadies in Nigeria\u2019s official FX market, gaining slightly against the dollar as foreign reserves decline, according to Cent","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dollar-naira-exchange-rate-today-b430.webp","width":1135,"height":636},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-edges-up-against-dollar-in-official-market-as-reserves-keep-falling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Naira Edges Up Against Dollar in Official Market as Reserves Keep Falling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/","name":"Zalebs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e","name":"Zibuyile Dladla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zibuyile Dladla"},"description":"Zibuyile began her media journey as a sales intern at Mediamark (Kagiso Media) before moving into digital content creation for ZAlebs.com. Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.","sameAs":["https:\/\/za.linkedin.com\/in\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a"],"url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/author\/zibuyile-dladla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}