Naira appreciates against dollar in parallel and official markets

Nigeria's naira showed signs of recovery on Friday, appreciating against the U.S. dollar in both the parallel and official foreign exchange markets. This marks a positive shift after recent fluctuations in the country's currency.

In the parallel market, the naira strengthened to N1,412 per dollar, up from N1,416 recorded the previous day. Concurrently, the local currency also gained ground in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), closing at N1,364 per dollar. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated this official rate represented an appreciation of N1.10 from Thursday's figure.

The narrowing gap between the parallel and official exchange rates is a notable development. On Friday, the difference stood at N48 per dollar, a decrease from the N50.90 gap observed on Thursday. This convergence is often seen as a positive indicator for currency stability.

Furthermore, trading activity at the NFEM experienced a substantial surge. The interbank turnover increased by nearly 300 percent to $393.5 million on Thursday, a significant jump from the $98.8 million recorded the previous day. This heightened trading volume suggests increased liquidity and activity in the official foreign exchange market.