The Naira continued its appreciation against the US Dollar at the foreign exchange market as USD transactions surged.

FMDQ data showed that the Naira appreciated to N1,572.82 per USD upon resumption of trading on Monday compared to 1,602.75 on Friday.

The figure represents N29.93 appreciation compared to the N1602.75 it traded on Friday.

Similarly, this is first since March 5, 2024, that the country’s currency crossed to N1,572.82 per USD mark from an average of N1,600 per USD.

This is because USD transactions surged 2.20 per cent, reaching $140.45 million as opposed to the $137.43 million on Friday.

Also, in the parallel market, the naira appreciated by 0.78 per cent against the US dollar, trading at N1,608 compared to the previous figure of N1,614 per USD.

The Naira gained against Pounds sterling traded N2,030 per £1 on Monday from the earlier rate of N2,045 per £1. Also appreciated by 0.50 per cent against the Euro, traded N1,725 per €1 up from last week’s Friday rate of N1,735 per €1.

This development comes as Nigeria’s foreign reserves saw a slight increase of $2.71 million as of March 14, 2024, amounting to $34.416 billion—a 0.008 per cent rise from the previous day’s reserves of $34.413 billion.