Naira opened the 2026 trading year on a positive note at the official foreign exchange market, strengthening against the United States dollar on Friday.
Gatekeepers News reports that figures from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market showed that the local currency closed at N1,430.84 per dollar, improving from the N1,435.75 rate recorded on December 31, 2025. This represented a gain of N4.31 or about 0.34 per cent within the period.
Market data indicated that the naira had experienced mixed movements earlier in the week, trading at N1,442.51 to the dollar on Monday before weakening to N1,445.68 on Tuesday. The currency later recovered momentum on Wednesday, returning to N1,435.75 per dollar, ahead of Friday’s further appreciation.
In contrast, the naira weakened at the parallel market, where it exchanged at N1,495 per dollar on Friday, down from N1,490 at the end of last year. The currency had earlier traded at N1,485 on Monday, slipped to N1,490 on Tuesday, and remained unchanged on Wednesday.
Central Bank of Nigeria has continued to implement reforms aimed at improving liquidity and transparency in the foreign exchange market, including the unification of FX windows and tighter monitoring of market activities.
