Naira Appreciates To N1,595/$ In Parallel Market

Naira Appreciates To N1,595/$ In Parallel Market

Yesterday, the Naira gained strength in the parallel market, appreciating to N1,595 per dollar, up from N1,610 per dollar on Monday.

This marks an overall week-on-week appreciation of N45 from N1,640 per dollar recorded last Tuesday.

In the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), the Naira remained stable at N1,499 per dollar, reflecting a week-on-week increase of N27.3 from N1,526.3 per dollar noted the previous Tuesday.

As a result, the gap between the parallel market and NFEM rates has decreased to N96 per dollar, down from N113.7 per dollar last week.

The Naira has been on an upward trajectory since Thursday, January 23rd, when it rose to N1,665 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,670 per dollar on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Similarly, it appreciated in the official market on the same date to N1,548 per dollar from N1,553 the day before.

Since that time, the Naira has strengthened by N75 in the parallel market and N54 in the official market.

Analysts suggest that this positive trend can be attributed to a reduced demand for dollars, largely influenced by the Chinese New Year holiday.

Additionally, it has been reported that banks are now fulfilling customer requests for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA), which were previously infrequently honored.