On the first day of trading in the New Year, the Nigerian naira depreciated to N1,541.36/$, marking a 0.36% decline from the 2024 closing rate of N1,535.82/$.
Some authorised dealers quoted the dollar at N1,545/$, showing an improvement compared to Tuesday’s rate of N1,550/$. Others, however, closed trading on Thursday with the naira at N1,520/$.
In the parallel market, the naira ended the day at N1,655/$, a slight improvement from N1,670/$ on Tuesday.
The naira faced a 40.9% depreciation in 2024 compared to the official rate of N907.11/$ at the close of 2023.
This significant decline comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to implement various foreign exchange policies designed to boost market transparency and attract foreign investors.
One of the latest measures, the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System introduced in December, provided some stability for the naira.
Meanwhile, in the money market, there were downward movements across all maturities in the Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate, signaling liquidity within the banking system.
The Open Repo Rate fell by 0.61% to 26.69%, and the Overnight Lending Rate decreased by 0.55% to 27.25%.
In the secondary market for FGN bonds, trading activity remained subdued, causing a slight increase in the average yield to 19.76%.
Conversely, the sovereign Eurobonds market saw increased buying activity across all segments of the yield curve, resulting in a 6 basis point drop in the average yield to 9.62%.
