The Naira began the week on a negative note, posting its highest single-day depreciation against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Monday.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed the local currency weakened to N1,378.03 per dollar, compared to N1,363.39 recorded last Friday. This represents a significant decline of N14.64 — the steepest single-day drop recorded so far this year.

At the parallel market, the Naira also depreciated by N5 to close at N1,380 per dollar on Monday, down from N1,375 at the close of trading on Friday.

The continued decline across both the official and parallel markets narrowed the exchange rate gap to just N1.97.

The sustained downtrend follows recent foreign exchange market adjustments by the apex bank, including reduced dollar liquidity interventions.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves stood at $49.51 billion as of February 25, 2026, according to data from the Central Bank.