Naira falls again as weekly dollar inflows jump 26.8%
By Aboki Forex —
The naira ended the week weaker in the official foreign exchange market. Fresh demand for the dollar outweighed rising FX inflows and stronger external reserves.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria shows the naira depreciated by N10.47 week-on-week. The dollar was quoted at N1,380.93 on Friday at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market. That is a 0.76 percent decline from N1,370.46 recorded the previous Friday.
On a day-on-day basis, the local currency closed almost flat. It shed 82 kobo from N1,380.11 per dollar traded on Thursday. Over the five trading sessions, the naira weakened by 0.86 percent or N11.82 from its opening rate of N1,369.11 on Monday.
In the parallel market, the local currency closed unchanged at N1,395 per dollar. The gap between the official and parallel market rates remained at N15.
Despite the naira's decline, trading activity in the official market strengthened. Total turnover at the NFEM rose by 26.82 percent week-on-week to $2.79 billion on Thursday. That represents a $590 million increase from $2.20 billion recorded the previous Thursday.
The number of deals at the NFEM declined marginally by 1.12 percent to 1,241 transactions from 1,255 deals a week earlier.
Activity in the interbank segment also improved. Total turnover surged by 34.08 percent week-on-week to $635.69 million on Friday. That is an increase of $161.56 million from $474.13 million recorded a week earlier. The number of interbank deals rose by 3.5 percent to 555 transactions from 536 deals.
Nigeria's external reserves continued their steady ascent. They rose to $51.24 billion as of June 25, 2026. This is a 36.97 percent increase from $37.41 billion recorded during the same period in 2025.
Analysts at Comercio Partners said the naira remained notably stable throughout May 2026 with lower volatility than in previous years. The currency traded within a narrow band of N1,360 to N1,375 per dollar at the official window. It opened the month around N1,367 to N1,375 and closed near N1,372, recording only modest day-to-day fluctuations.