Nigeria’s naira strengthened on the official market Oct. 29, while its latest reported reserve reading fell, leaving the day’s currency gain alongside a modest drop in the reserve measure.
Reports citing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data put the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market rate at N1,346.91 per dollar, down from N1,347.53 on Oct. 28. The 62-kobo change marked a stronger official naira rate. The CBN says the NFEM figure is the day’s volume-weighted average and official exchange rate.
The latest reported reserve figure, for Oct. 28, was $55.257 billion, compared with $55.264 billion for Oct. 27. That is a $7 million decline. The CBN labels its reserves series a 30-day moving average and describes external reserves as assets available to meet external payments and potentially support foreign-exchange intervention.
The rate and reserve figures cover separate periods: the exchange rate is a daily measure, while the reserves series is averaged over 30 days. The CBN says reserve management supports confidence in exchange-rate policy and helps meet Nigeria’s external obligations. These figures do not establish that reserves caused the naira’s gain, and they identify no specific CBN intervention behind it. BusinessDay separately reported that the Oct. 28 reserve reading was 28.18% higher than the $43.11 billion recorded on the corresponding date in 2025.
In an interview published Oct. 20 by The Sun, CBN Gov. Olayemi Cardoso said the premium between official and parallel-market rates had narrowed from about 60% to roughly 3% to 4%. He said the smaller spread may make investors more willing to commit capital and give financial institutions steadier conditions for planning products around the currency and economy.
The latest rate follows earlier movement in the official market. EconoTimes previously covered an Oct. 27 naira gain, when the reported NFEM rate was N1,352.87 per dollar.
