The naira appreciated massively against the dollar in both parallel and official foreign exchange markets on Monday ahead of Christmas, Media Talk Africa reports.

A Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Abubakar Alhasan, told Media Talk Africa that the naira closed at N1640 per dollar on Monday, N1,775 recorded on Friday last week. This showed that the naira gained N135 against the dollar.

Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign exchange data showed that the Naira strengthened marginally to N1539.55 on Monday from N1,541.68, exchanged on Friday last week.

The developments come as the Nigerian government declared three days of public holidays on Monday to mark this year’s Christmas and New Year celebrations.