The naira ended the trading week broadly stable across the foreign exchange market despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to reduce its benchmark interest rate, with stronger external reserves continuing to support the currency.

Data from the CBN showed that the naira strengthened slightly by ₦1.69 week-on-week, with the dollar quoted at ₦1,329.51 on Friday, compared with ₦1,331.20 recorded at the end of the previous week at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

On a daily basis, the local currency weakened marginally by 84 kobo from the ₦1,328.67 rate recorded on Thursday. Across the five trading days, however, the naira appreciated by 29 kobo from ₦1,329.80 recorded on Monday.

In the parallel market, the naira remained stable at ₦1,385 per dollar. The difference between the official and parallel market rates narrowed slightly to ₦56, or 4.21 per cent, from ₦57, or 4.29 per cent, recorded the previous day.

Trading activity also slowed during the week, with turnover at the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market standing at $711.79 million on Friday. This compared with a cumulative turnover of $2.74 billion recorded during the five trading days of the preceding week.

Although full-week NFEM turnover figures were not available at the time of reporting, transactions over four trading days this week totalled $2.25 billion. The updated figure for the previous five-day period stood at $2.74 billion.

The number of deals also fell, with 1,351 transactions recorded during the four trading days this week, compared with 1,498 deals across five trading days in the previous week.

Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the CBN with resources to support the naira and meet international obligations, continued to rise, reaching an 18-year high of $54.86 billion as of September 24, 2026.

The figure represents a 30 per cent increase from the $42.29 billion recorded during the corresponding period in 2025.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso had earlier disclosed that gross external reserves stood at $55.25 billion as of September 18, describing the level as the highest in 18 years and enough to cover about 11.3 months of imports of goods and services.

Following its latest two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, the CBN announced a reduction of the Monetary Policy Rate to 23 per cent.

The committee also adjusted the Standing Facilities Corridor to plus 50 and minus 300 basis points around the MPR, while retaining the Cash Reserve Requirement at 45 per cent for deposit money banks, 16 per cent for merchant banks and 75 per cent for non-TSA public sector deposits.

Analysts said the rate reduction could support equities and broader economic activity, but noted that a significant cut could also create risks for foreign portfolio flows and the foreign exchange market.