Naira Depreciates as Nigeria’s FX Reserves Fall Below $55bn
The naira depreciated strongly against the US dollar in the Nigerian foreign exchange market (NFEM) on Wednesday as pressure on the local currency deepened.
The local unit weakened to N1,358 per US dollar amidst a slowdown in banks’ activities at the official window, resulting in a sharp daily decline in FX turnover and deal count.
Daily FX data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that the spot exchange rate reached N1,365 before closing at N1359.2454 per greenback denominated deals executed at the window.
Reflecting a distorted market liquidity, intraday transactions were executed between N1,352.7500 and N1365, with NFEM rate settling at N1,358.3385 at the official currency market.
Data released by the CBN revealed that interbank FX turnover moderated to $93.010 million, down sharply from $248.071 million the previous day. The number of deals at the interbank window also fell to 99 from 144 FX actions reported on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s foreign reserves fell below $55 billion amid sustained dollar outflows, leaving the gross balance at $54.919 billion, the latest CBN update revealed.
External reserves peaked at $55.264 billion in late October 2026 and have since trended downward amid CBN FX interventions at the official window.
Olayemi Cardoso, the CBN Governor, put net reserves at about $46 billion, a record. Gross reserves remain above the CBN’s full-year 2026 target of $51.04 billion.
The naira ended a three-month run of gains in October. The local unit closed at N1,346.86/$, a 1.31% depreciation from N1,329.50/$ at the end of September.
The naira is still stronger than the N1,379.68/$ recorded at the end of June. The slide was concentrated in the last full week of the month, when the rate weakened to between N1,362 and N1,370/$ before recovering to about N1,347/$ on 29 and 30 October. South African Rand Holds Steady as Gold Climbs, Oil Prices Ease
