The Nigerian naira weakened slightly at the official foreign exchange market, closing at 1,529.22 naira per United States dollar on Tuesday compared to 1,528.33 naira per United States dollar on Monday, while the parallel market rate held steady at 1,540 naira per United States dollar. This minor drop follows announcements from major commercial banks, such as United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, and First Bank of Nigeria, that they are allowing customers to use naira cards for international transactions again, with spending limits set between $500 monthly and $1,000 quarterly. Experts expect this change to increase the overall demand for foreign currency. In a mid-year review, analysts at CardinalStone predicted the naira will stay stable, trading between 1,550 naira and 1,635 naira per United States dollar for the rest of the year. They noted that during the first half of the year, global tensions and United States trade policies caused investors to pull $22.83 billion out of Nigeria. To protect the currency, the Central Bank of Nigeria stepped in by selling $4.72 billion. However, analysts clarified that these interventions are intended only to fix temporary market distortions, rather than signaling a return to artificially controlling the exchange rate. They highlighted that the central bank's monthly spending is much lower than in previous years, and both local and international experts now agree that the naira is trading close to its actual, fair value.
Index to Nigerian Newspapers
