Naira Falls against Dollar, Pound as FX Reserves Dip Below $38bn
The naira dropped against the US dollar to close at N1599 in the official market, or the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), data obtained from the Central Bank platform showed.
The forex market liquidity has continued to buck the negative trend, bolstered by increased dollar inflows from local corporates and the central bank. The USD/NGN pair traded within a range of N1,575.00 to N1,620, according to data from the CBN. By the end of the session, the naira depreciated by 5 bps, closing at N1,599.7991.
However, in the parallel market, the naira stayed flat at N1,620 as the volume of US dollar purchases from the Bureau de Change (BDCs) operators slowed down while the authority keeps the dollar tap open till May 2025.
Also, the naira lost N6.7162 per British pound to close at N2121.9735, according to CBN FX data. The nation’s gross external reserves experience no inflows so far this week. Foreign reserves fell below $38 billion, of which $23 billion is unencumbered, as per CBN claims.
Nigeria’s external reserves now stand at $37.907 billion, down from a peak of $43 billion in 2025, impacted by foreign debt services and sustained FX interventions amidst oil price fluctuations.
In the global commodity market, oil prices climbed over $1 per barrel on Wednesday due to fresh concerns over global supply after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Chinese firms importing Iranian oil.
Brent crude increased by $1.04, or 1.61%, to $65.71 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 97 cents, or 1.58%, reaching $62.30. Meanwhile, gold prices continued their record-breaking rally, surpassing $3,300 per ounce as investors sought safety amid rising U.S.-China trade tensions and a weakening U.S. dollar.
Spot gold surged 3.1% to $3,327.97 an ounce by 1:45 p.m. ET, after earlier touching a new all-time high of $3,332.89. The demand for safe-haven assets remains strong amid heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Elsewhere, Fitch Ratings has reduced its Brent and WTI oil price assumptions for 2025, reflecting lower economic growth due to the trade war and higher-than-expected production increases by OPEC+ planned for May.
Medium-term and mid-cycle oil and all gas price assumptions are unchanged, according to the global credit ratings agency. It said the reduced short-term oil price assumptions reflect a sharp slowdown in global economic growth—to 1.9% in 2025 from 2.9% in 2024, according to our latest forecast – which will reduce oil demand.
“We forecast global oil demand growth to be well below 1 million barrels per day (MMbpd) in 2025 due to slower global economic growth, particularly in China, and further weakness in the petrochemicals sector, which is already in a downturn”.
OPEC+ has significant spare production capacity of 5.6 MMbpd, and its supply management is important to balance the market.
It had indicated plans to start unwinding 2.2 MMbpd of production cuts from April 2025 until September 2026, initially setting April’s increase at 138 thousand barrels per day (kbpd) and a further 135 kbpd in May.
On 3 April, OPEC+ announced a larger production target increase of 411 kbpd for May but caveated that these increases are subject to market conditions. The actual increase may be lower given overproduction by some countries.
“We continue to expect the global oil market to be oversupplied in 2025. We expect global oil supply growth in 2025 of over 1.6 MMbpd if OPEC+ proceeds with the unwinding of voluntary production cuts as scheduled.
“This may be affected by the response of the countries producing above their quotas to OPEC+’s decision to triple its output target increases for May”, Fitch said. #Naira Falls against Dollar, Pound as FX Reserves Dip Below $38bn First Holdco Falls below N1 Trillion in Equities Market
