The Naira has continued its upward trend, appreciating to N1,595 per dollar in the parallel market on Tuesday. This marks a gain from the N1,610 per dollar recorded on Monday.
Over the past week, the currency has strengthened by N45, improving from N1,640 per dollar in the parallel market last Tuesday.
In the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), the Naira remained stable at N1,499 per dollar on Tuesday. However, compared to last Tuesday’s rate of N1,526.3 per dollar, the currency has gained N27.3 over the past week.
As a result, the gap between the parallel market and the official exchange rate has narrowed. The difference now stands at N96 per dollar, down from N113.7 per dollar recorded last Tuesday.
The Naira has been on an upward path since January 23, when it appreciated to N1,665 per dollar in the parallel market, rising from N1,670 per dollar recorded the previous day. A similar improvement was noted in the official market, where the currency appreciated to N1,548 per dollar on January 23 from N1,553 per dollar on January 22.
Since then, the Naira has gained N75 in the parallel market and N54 in the official market.
Currency traders noted that the recent strengthening of the Naira is partly due to lower demand for the dollar, influenced by the ongoing Chinese New Year holiday. The reduced dollar demand has contributed to the appreciation of the local currency.
Additionally, banks are now more willing to process customer requests for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA). In the past, many banks rarely fulfilled these forex requests, but this trend appears to be changing.
