The Nigerian currency, the naira, appreciated for the second day on Friday, November 22, 2024, after several days of depreciation in the official window.

The naira closed at N1,652.62, up from the N1,658.67 it traded on November 22, 2024, representing a 0.36% gain in the official window.

Experts say the naira’s appreciation is a positive sign for the economy after days of depreciation, severely affecting living standards.

They say the arrowhead of Nigeria’s inflation is the naira devaluation, which has caused the prices of things to skyrocket.

Data from the FMDQ Exchange shows that willing buyers and willing sellers quoted the dollar at a high of N1,703 and a low of N1,640 per dollar.

Foreign exchange turnover in the official window improved to $243.05 million compared to $163.66 million supplied on Thursday, November 21, 2024.

The current naira gain is the third time it has gained against the US dollar in a week.

However, on Friday, November 22, 2024, the naira depreciated in the parallel market from N1,745 per dollar to N1,740.

Several experts have predicted further depreciation of the local currency before December.

According to them, high demand for foreign exchange during Christmas will worsen the naira’s depreciation.

This is according to a project by Meristem Securities Limited in the Inflation Report released on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.

In the report, Meristem worried that the forex demand during Christmas would exacerbate the naira’s woes before the inflation rate.

The report disclosed that further upward pressure on the core index will be caused by rising transportation from elevated fuel prices.