The Naira continued to depreciate against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday, March 4.
During the session, it lost N6.27 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to close at N1,384.29/$1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s N1,378.02/$1.
The local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N3.92 to quote at N1,842.22/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,846.14/£1, but gained N6.79 on the Euro to close at N1,606.19/€1 compared with Monday’s rate of N1,612.98/€1.
In the parallel market, the Naira further lost N10 against the Dollar during the trading day to settle at N1,375/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,375/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it was traded at N1,373/$1.
The exchange rate has been trending down for over 10 days following an unusual FX purchase activity by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the official market in February.
However, the Naira is expected to trade with a stable bias in line with prevailing market demand and supply dynamics, supported by an improving external reserves position.
Nigeria’s strong net reserves position has been touted as enough, as it rose 50.5 per cent year-on-year to $34.8 billion in 2025 from $23.11 billion in 2024.
The Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, said that the growth in external reserves reflects stronger external sector fundamentals and sustained policy reforms.
He stated that the figures emphasised the benefits of increased transparency and credibility in foreign exchange management, boosting investor confidence, attracting stronger FX inflows, and improving reserve management practices aimed at preserving capital, ensuring liquidity, and supporting long-term sustainability.
As for the cryptocurrency market, most majors recovered from the weekend lows but couldn’t sustain it over a 24-hour trading period, leaving the market in a holding pattern while it waits for clarity on the Iran situation.
Cardano (ADA) slumped 3.5 per cent to $0.2600, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 2.7 per cent to trade at $0.0889, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.2 per cent to $1,970.48, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 0.8 per cent to $1.35, and Solana (SOL) decreased by 0.6 per cent to sell at $85.22.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 1.2 per cent to $54.60, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell for $68,207.17, and Binance Coin (BNB) rose 0.1 per cent to $632.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.