Why the naira's official rate has moved in steps

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) publishes a buying, a central and a selling rate for the naira every business day. For most of the years since 2001 the dollar's central rate held for months and then moved in a single step; since June 2023 it has followed the market from day to day.

Which rate, and what it is for

The CBN's exchange-rate table gives each currency a Buying RateSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange RatesOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources, a Central RateSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange RatesOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources and a Selling RateSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange RatesOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources; FXtab shows the central rate. For the dollar the CBN also publishes the rate of the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), whose guidelines of November 29, 2024 open: Following the consolidation of all windows in the official foreign exchange (FX) marketSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Revised Guidelines for The Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM)Opens in a new tabGo to the list of sources. The CBN notes: NFEM rate is derived at Volume Weighted Average and stands as the official exchange rate for the day.Source: Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange RatesOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources Since December 2, 2024, the NFEM rate has been half a naira above the central rate, to the One hundredth of a naira.Source: Deutsche Bundesbank, Metadata on the Exchange rate statisticsOpens in a new tab, on 447 of the 455 days that have both.Figures computed by FXtab from:Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange Rates (Central Rate)Opens in a new tabCentral Bank of Nigeria, Monthly Average Exchange Rates of the NairaOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

The market behind the rate is the one the CBN set up in June 2016. Its guidelines of that month open: The CBN shall operate a single market structure through the autonomous/inter-bank market i.e. the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market with the CBN participating in the FX market through interventionsSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Revised Guidelines for the Operation of the Nigerian Inter-bank Foreign Exchange MarketOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources. Since June 2023 the market has worked on the model the CBN calls Willing Buyer, Willing SellerSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Press Release: Operational Changes to the Foreign Exchange MarketOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources, which it explains: In this model, rates are mutually agreed by both parties.Source: Central Bank of Nigeria, Q and A on the new I & E WindowOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

What the history shows

FXtab's series of the CBN's central rate for the dollar begins on December 10, 2001, at 112.35 naira. It holds one rate for 40 published values or more only between 2014 and 2021: 155.23 naira from April 14, 2014 to September 5, 2014 (99 values); 167.5 naira from December 1, 2014 to February 18, 2015 (53 values); 196.5 naira from March 4, 2015 to June 17, 2016 (in 3 runs of 58, 49 and 100 values); 360.5 naira from March 20, 2020 to August 5, 2020 (90 values); and 379.5 naira from August 6, 2020 to May 10, 2021 (in 2 runs of 41 and 144 values).Figures computed by FXtab from:Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange Rates (Central Rate)Opens in a new tabCentral Bank of Nigeria, Monthly Average Exchange Rates of the NairaOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

Between such periods the rate moved in single steps. It rose by more than 15% in a day 4 times before June 2023. The first rise, 18.5% on February 19, 2015, came the day after the CBN closed its The CBN's auctions of foreign exchange, announced on Mondays and Wednesdays, through which it intervened in the foreign exchange market.Source: Central Bank of Nigeria, revised guidelines for the operation of the foreign exchange market: the dutch auction systemOpens in a new tab: the rDAS/wDAS foreign exchange window at the CBN is hereby closedSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Closure Of The CBN RDAS/WDAS Foreign Exchange WindowOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources, and Henceforth, all demand for foreign exchange should be channeled to the INTERBANK FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET.Source: Central Bank of Nigeria, Closure Of The CBN RDAS/WDAS Foreign Exchange WindowOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources The second, 42.2% on June 20, 2016, from 196.5 to 279.5 naira, followed the guidelines of June 15, 2016; the CBN's booklet on exchange-rate management records that The Nigerian foreign exchange market was further liberalised in 2016 following the closure of the rDAS in February 2015Source: Central Bank of Nigeria, Understanding Monetary Policy Series:Exchange Rate Management in Nigeria (Series 8)Opens in a new tabGo to the list of sources. FXtab's archive holds no CBN document on the third, 17.6% on March 20, 2020. The fourth, 36.6% on June 14, 2023, from 462.88 to 632.27 naira,Figures computed by FXtab from:Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange Rates (Central Rate)Opens in a new tabCentral Bank of Nigeria, Monthly Average Exchange Rates of the NairaOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources came with the CBN's press release of that day: Abolishment of segmentation. All segments are now collapsed into the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.Source: Central Bank of Nigeria, Press Release: Operational Changes to the Foreign Exchange MarketOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

Since then the rate has followed the market. From October 18, 2023 to May 30, 2024 it moved by more than 10% from one published value to the next 19 times, in both directions; the largest rises were 23.6% on December 22, 2023 and 34.1% on January 30, 2024. The day before that last rise, the CBN had reminded the authorised dealers that it has permitted financial markets transactions to be conducted on a ‘willing buyer willing seller’ basis, and therefore expects prices to be quoted and displayed in a transparent mannerSource: Central Bank of Nigeria, Circular to All Authorised Dealers - Financial Markets Price TransparencyOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources. The median change from one value to the next was 1.96% in the rest of 2023, 0.97% in 2024, 0.17% in 2025 and 0.20% in 2026 to September 25, 2026.Figures computed by FXtab from:Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange Rates (Central Rate)Opens in a new tabCentral Bank of Nigeria, Monthly Average Exchange Rates of the NairaOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

FXtab leaves out 123 values of the CBN's table, across its currencies: 58 where the table gives two different values for one currency on one day, 45 that differ by more than 10% from the day's other rates, and 20 that repeat the values of another date.Figures computed by FXtab from:Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange Rates (Central Rate)Opens in a new tabCentral Bank of Nigeria, Monthly Average Exchange Rates of the NairaOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

What it means for your money

The official rate was not what a dollar cost at a bureau de change. The CBN's monthly averages from January 2004 to April 2021 set the bureaux de change dollar rate beside the The exchange rate in the interbank market, where banks trade currencies with each other.Source: Deutsche Bundesbank, GlossaryOpens in a new tab. The bureaux' rate was a median 0.9% to 6.4% higher in each year from 2004 to 2014, and rose to a median 50.3% higher in 2016; its largest gap was 71.0% in May 2016: 336.93 naira for a dollar at the bureaux against 197 naira interbank.Figures computed by FXtab from:Central Bank of Nigeria, Exchange Rates (Central Rate)Opens in a new tabCentral Bank of Nigeria, Monthly Average Exchange Rates of the NairaOpens in a new tabGo to the list of sources

Bureau de change dollar rate above the interbank rate, median by year
Year	Months	Median gap
2004	12	4.8%
2005	12	6.4%
2006	12	4.0%
2007	12	1.0%
2008	12	1.1%
2009	9	2.5%
2010	12	1.2%
2011	12	1.4%
2012	12	1.2%
2013	12	0.9%
2014	12	3.5%
2015	12	12.2%
2016	12	50.3%
2017	12	19.7%
2018	12	18.4%
2019	12	17.1%
2020	12	21.8%
2021	4	25.6%

FXtab's Check a quote computes how far a rate you are offered is from the day's central rate.

Sources

Figures as of September 25, 2026, computed by FXtab from the Central Bank of Nigeria's published rates.