Naira Slight Depreciation Recorded Against Major Currencies in Friday’s FX Market Trade

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira experienced marginal weakening against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, closing at N1,380.93 per dollar, representing a decline of 82 Kobo or 0.06% from the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

In the same period, the local currency faced further pressure against other major currencies, depreciating by N6.06 against the British Pound to settle at N1,824.90/£1, compared to N1,818.84/£1 the day before. Additionally, it weakened by N10.74 against the Euro, ending at N1,577.58/€1 versus the prior session’s N1,566.84/€1.

At GTBank’s foreign exchange counter, the Naira recorded a N4 depreciation against the Dollar, closing at N1,387/$1 compared to Thursday’s N1,383/$1. The parallel market showed no change, maintaining the rate at N1,395/$1.

Foreign exchange trading activity among financial institutions has shown volatility amid reduced interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), allowing market forces to dictate currency movements. The strengthening US Dollar has concurrently exerted downward pressure on emerging market currencies globally.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has received the initial disbursement from a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing facility arranged with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the UAE’s largest financial institution. The facility, which received parliamentary approval earlier this year, forms part of the federal government’s strategy to diversify external funding sources and reduce borrowing costs.

Structured as a Total Return Swap agreement, the proceeds are designated for debt refinancing and infrastructure development projects. Should these funds enter through the official foreign exchange window, they could enhance foreign currency reserves and liquidity within the Nigerian financial system.

In the cryptocurrency segment, Solana (SOL) rose 2.2% to $71.92, while Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1% to trade at $0.1474. Ripple (XRP) and Dogecoin (DOGE) also recorded similar upward momentum, increasing by 1.1% and 0.9% respectively to $1.05 and $0.0755. Ethereum (ETH) improved marginally by 0.4% to $1,578.84.

Conversely, TRON (TRX) declined 0.6% to $0.3203, while Binance Coin (BNB) and Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively to $564.33 and $60,219.37. The stablecoins US Dollar Tether (USDT) and US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

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