The dollar to naira exchange rate remains volatile, with traders at the Lagos parallel market buying at ₦1,630 and selling at ₦1,640 as of February 1, 2025. While these rates dominate street trading, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) maintains that only official banking channels should be used for forex transactions. Officially, the naira trades between ₦1,490 and ₦1,517 per dollar.
Meanwhile, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso has credited the bank’s monetary policies for preventing inflation from reaching 42.81% by December 2024. He reaffirmed that in 2025, the CBN will stick to orthodox monetary strategies to stabilize the economy. The apex bank also projects that diaspora remittances will rise to ₦31.79 trillion when final figures for 2024 are released.
With the CBN tightening monetary policies, including raising the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 27.50%, cash flow remains a concern for businesses and consumers. As the forex market reacts to these policies, the future of the naira will depend on how well Nigeria navigates economic headwinds in the months ahead.