Naira Strengthens to N1,315/$ as Reserves Surge

On September 5, the naira rose to N1,315 per dollar in the official foreign exchange market, marking its best performance since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) implemented the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS). This represented a 0.84 percent gain from the N1,326 per dollar rate recorded on September 2.

The last time the naira traded at the N1,300 level was in April 2024. In the parallel market, the naira strengthened to N1,400 per dollar on September 6, improving from N1,410 per dollar the previous day.

This appreciation coincided with Nigeria's external reserves reaching $54.08 billion as of September 5, a significant increase from $45.56 billion on January 2, marking a year-to-date rise of $8.51 billion or 18.69 percent. The growth in foreign reserves is a key indicator of Nigeria's external financial health, providing the CBN with more capacity to intervene in the FX market.

Despite the naira's appreciation, the gap between the official and parallel market rates remains approximately N85 per dollar.