The Naira, Nigeria’s currency, strengthened to N1,382.95 per dollar on Tuesday because there was more dollar available in the official foreign exchange market.

The Naira has been getting stronger against the US dollar in different foreign exchange markets, thanks to changes made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

After trading on Tuesday, the Naira gained 1.81 percent (N25.09), with the

selling at N1,382.95, which is better than the N1,408.04 on Monday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), according to data from FMDQ Securities Limited.

The highest price for the day was N1,486 on Tuesday, lower than N1,442 on Monday, while the lowest price remained N1,300 on the same day.

Dollar supply by FX market players, including banks, increased by 10.72 percent to $245.58 million on Tuesday from $221.80 million on Monday.

The pressure on the foreign exchange market has reduced because on Tuesday, the Naira strengthened to N1,340 per dollar on the parallel market, which is higher than the N1,382.95 rate on the official market. This created a difference of N42.95 between the two rates.

This is an 8.21 percent increase compared to the N1,450/$1 rate on Monday in the unofficial market. Since February 20, 2024, the Naira has gained 36.19 percent in value against the dollar from its lowest point of N1,825/$ on the parallel market, also known as the black market.

At the recent two-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that ended on Tuesday, the committee was pleased to see the Naira improving steadily in the foreign exchange (FX) market over the past week. They credited this improvement to recent FX reforms and better transparency.