Naira Opens Week Weaker at N1,363.83/$1 as Dollar Demand Bites
By Aboki Forex —
The Nigerian naira started the new trading week on a soft note. Pressure from limited US dollar liquidity continued to hit the market.
Data from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) showed the local currency depreciated slightly last week. It closed at N1,363.83 per dollar at the official market. That is down from N1,362.21 in the previous week. It represents a 0.12 percent week-on-week decline.
The naira briefly strengthened midweek to around N1,360.55 per dollar. But it gave up those gains as demand for the greenback intensified toward the end of the week.
The parallel market also felt the heat. The naira weakened by 0.36 percent to close at N1,405 per dollar. That compares to N1,400 in the prior week.
Foreign portfolio investors are driving FX inflows. They contributed over half of total funds, bringing in $0.51 billion. Nigeria's foreign reserves rose to $50.43 billion. That signals a stronger external position and could support exchange rate stability.
According to Coronation Research, the gap between the official and parallel market rates is widening again.