The Nigerian Naira has experienced a significant appreciation against the US dollar in recent weeks, attributed to strategic economic measures and interventions.
According to the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), this positive trend is primarily due to improvements in Nigeria's external reserves and actions taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Director of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, explained in a statement on Sunday that the Naira gained N127, closing at N1,535 per dollar last Friday, compared to N1,660 the previous Monday.
"You can ascribe this to several issues," Yusuf stated. "First, we have seen an improvement in our reserves, which reached the $40bn mark a few weeks ago, and that implies that the CBN has more power to intervene in the market."
Yusuf further highlighted the role of the CBN's recent introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) in stabilizing the currency.
"In the last five months or so, we have seen relative stability in the naira exchange rate, which is a welcome development," he noted.
Additionally, the CPPE pointed out that increased autonomous foreign exchange inflows, especially from international money transfer operators, have bolstered the Naira's strength.
Other experts in the sector have also linked the currency's appreciation to the federal government's successful raising of $2.2 billion through Eurobond issuances.
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