Naira cools against Pound as CBN mops up dollars
The Nigerian naira weakened to N1,842/£1 in the official market, breaking below the psychological N1,900/£ resistance level that held throughout 2025-2026. This follows intensified CBN mop-up operations removing excess dollars from the banking system to stabilize exchange rates and prevent speculative trading. Technical patterns confirm the break as significant, with the spread between official and parallel markets narrowing to under 1%. The CBN aims to boost reserves to $51 billion by year-end while targeting excess naira liquidity exceeding N52 trillion held via the Standing Deposit Facility. These measures aim to curb dollar outflows and maintain stability ahead of the 304th MPC meeting.