Naira Don Fall Again, Touch N1,612/$1 For Official Market

Abuja, Nigeria (Naija247news) – Naira don drop to N1,612 per dollar for official market on May 7, 2025. Dis b drop from N1,609 per dollar wey e dey yesterday, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data. Dis latest depreciation dey show serious concerns about the foreign exchange (FX) supply shortage and uncertainty for di currency market.

The naira experience heavy volatility for the official market, as e trade as high as N1,615 and as low as N1,605.01 on Wednesday, which be bigger range than di previous day wey e dey tight around N1,609.5 at di high and N1,603 at di low.

Market traders dey blame liquidity issues and delayed dollar inflows for di wide-ranging daily gap, even as CBN dey try to assure people of consistent FX interventions. Di naira trade at N1,625 per dollar at di parallel market on Wednesday, which show slight weakness from N1,615 wey e dey on Tuesday.

On Monday, di exchange rate na N1,605 per dollar, which mean say di naira don lose N10 from Monday to Tuesday. Di gap between di official and parallel market rates don narrow down to N13, raising new concerns from analysts about di rise in speculative demand and di issues wey dey hinder access to foreign exchange through official channels.

Adetokunbo Bamidele, currency trader and research analyst wey dey Lagos, talk say although CBN don make some steps towards transparency for di FX market, di main problem still dey with di supply of FX. “We dey see small progress with price discovery, but di main wahala na di supply side. If dem no fix supply – whether na from remittances, oil money, or foreign investment – di naira go continue to dey fall.”

Dr. Kemi Taiwo, economist at Axion Financial Services, also add say CBN need to get more sustainable policy coordination to encourage investor confidence. “CBN gatz do pass just short-term solutions. Wetin we need now na strategic mix of monetary and fiscal policies wey fit unlock inflows and reduce di reliance on black market. Otherwise, di arbitrage opportunities go still dey.”

Nigeria’s external reserves see slight increase to $38.10 billion as of May 6, 2025, from $37.93 billion as at April 30, 2025. Di rise come from crude oil earnings and possible FX loans. But analysts dey warn say di reserves fit no be enough to protect di naira if speculative pressures intensify.