{"id":739,"date":"2026-05-21T00:24:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-firms-vs-dollar-after-cbn-keeps-policy-rate-at-26-5\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:24:38","slug":"naira-firms-vs-dollar-after-cbn-keeps-policy-rate-at-26-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/naira-firms-vs-dollar-after-cbn-keeps-policy-rate-at-26-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Naira Firms vs Dollar After CBN Keeps Policy Rate at 26.5%"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The naira edged slightly firmer against the US dollar on Wednesday on Nigeria\u2019s official foreign exchange window after the Central Bank of Nigeria kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 26.50%. Central bank figures showed the currency strengthened to 1,373.34 naira per dollar on Wednesday, compared with 1,373.87 naira per dollar on Tuesday\u2014an improvement of about 0.5 naira on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n<p>In the informal or \u201cblack\u201d market, however, the naira held steady at 1,400 naira per dollar on Wednesday, the same level recorded the previous day. The currency\u2019s mixed performance across the two market segments came alongside the central bank\u2019s decision on Wednesday to maintain the country\u2019s interest rate at 26.50% following deliberations by the monetary policy committee.<\/p>\n<p>Support for the naira has also been linked to improving external buffers. Nigeria\u2019s foreign reserves have continued to increase since May 8, 2026, reaching 48.72 billion US dollars as of May 19, 2026, based on central bank data. In contrast, the naira had weakened over the prior two days against the dollar on the official trading window, underscoring the currency\u2019s recent volatility as policy expectations and reserve trends play out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The naira edged slightly firmer against the US dollar on Wednesday on Nigeria\u2019s official foreign exchange window after the Central Bank of Nigeria kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 26.50%. Central bank figures showed the currency strengthened to 1,373.34 naira per dollar on Wednesday, compared with 1,373.87 naira per dollar on Tuesday\u2014an improvement of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Naira Exchange Rate Climbs as CBN Holds 26.5% Rate","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Naira firms on Nigeria\u2019s official FX window after the CBN holds its 26.5% policy rate steady, narrowing the gap with the dollar de","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","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\/ 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