British Pound Strengthens Slightly as Naira Gains Ground in Early Week Trading

ByMoses Alamu1 hour Ago1 Mins read107

The British Pound opened the new trading week with moderate gains against the Nigerian Naira on Monday, February 23, 2026, as data from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) and informal trading desks showed a gradual shift in market momentum.

In the official NFEM window, the Pound started at 1,817.40 per Pound. By mid-morning, it had strengthened to around 1,810.65 per Pound by 6 AM WAT, marking a recovery from earlier levels and finding support near the 1,810 benchmark. This represents an improvement from rates seen earlier in February when the Pound reached as high as 1,906.29 against the Naira.

Analysts attribute the Naira’s relative resilience over the past three weeks to sustained interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria, including the clearing of foreign exchange backlogs owed to international airlines and service providers, which has bolstered liquidity.

In the parallel foreign exchange market, the Pound Sterling is trading at a slight premium, with rates ranging between 1,830 and 1,842 per Pound. Traders in major cities such as Lagos and Abuja report steady demand for Sterling, particularly for travel allowances and small-scale imports, but no signs of panic buying. The relatively narrow spread of about 1.5 percent between official and parallel rates suggests that transparency measures in the official market are helping to moderate speculative volatility.

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Several factors are currently shaping the Pound-to-Naira exchange rate. The British Pound has stayed firm against a basket of currencies on the back of positive employment data from the United Kingdom, while improved foreign exchange liquidity in Nigeria has enabled banks to more effectively service Form M and Form A requests.

Additionally, Nigeria’s high interest rate environment, with the Monetary Policy Rate at 27.00 percent, has attracted some foreign portfolio investment, further supporting the Naira’s stability against major global currencies.

For the remainder of the trading day, financial experts expect the official rate to fluctuate within a relatively narrow band between 1,805 and 1,818 per Pound, assuming no major developments in global oil prices or local policy shifts.