Naira Plunges Against the US Dollar Despite NBS Revealing Inflation Rate Cooled to 23.71% in April 2025

Despite the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealing on Thursday that inflation rate in April 2025 in Nigeria cooled to 23.71 per cent, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the Nigerian Naira performed woefully in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market against the United States Dollar yesterday.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday disclosed that Nigeria's headline inflation rate dropped in April 2025 to 23.71 per cent from 24.23 per cent in March 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.

The statistics office said the headline inflation figure for last month represents a 0.52 per cent decline from the previous month.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation growth slowed considerably, printing at 1.86 per cent in April compared to 3.90 per cent recorded in March.

Amid this encouraging inflation data, the domestic currency lost 0.21 per cent or N3.40 against the greenback in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) during Thursday's session to close at N1,600.15/$1, in contrast to the N1,596.75/$1 it was traded on Wednesday.

Similarly, it tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N1.10 to settle at N2,126.47/£1 versus midweek’s rate of N2,125.37/£1 and slumped against the Euro by 87 Kobo to finish at N1,791.25/€1 compared with the N1,790.38/€1 it traded a day earlier.

Also, the value of the Naira declined against the Dollar in the parallel market on Thursday by N5 to end at N1,625/$1 versus the preceding day’s rate of N1,620/$1.

As for cryptocurrency market, it was mixed as the US Federal Reserve Chair, Mr Jerome Powell, said at a conference on Thursday that longer term interest rates are likely to be higher.

This news was calmed by investors banking on recent tariff developments as the US negotiates agreements with other countries. It has reached deals with the United Kingdom and China and could reach one with India soon.

Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.5 per cent to sell at $103,941.43, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $100.34, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 1.3 per cent to $657.44, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.6 per cent to $2,588.88.

But, Ripple (XRP) crumbled by 3.2 per cent to $2.41, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 0.9 per cent to $0.2263, Solana (SOL) went down by 0.6 per cent to $172.63, and Cardano (ADA) slipped by 0.3 per cent to $0.7830, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.