The Nigerian Naira improved against the US dollar at the parallel market during the Christmas celebration as businesses wind down on their demands for the greenback.

The local currency appreciated from N492 it traded on Wednesday to N485 on Friday.

The dollar scarcity continued to weigh on the Naira value as businesses and investors were unable to create enough jobs to meet the growing Nigeria population, leading to over 1.7 million jobs lost in the last 9 months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Foreign exchange experts have said the continuous dip in the Naira value is as a result of limited forex liquidity in most segments of the foreign exchange market.

While a few analysts have projected an improvement in the nation economic situation in 2017, following OPEC successful production cut consensus.

A foreign exchange research analyst at Investors King, Samed Olukoya has said, “The nation may not fully benefit from the surge in global oil prices if it fails to curb the persistent attack on its oil facilities and get its output to 2.2mbpd as stipulated in its proposed 2017 budget.”

“Currently, oil output stood at 1.7mbpd after reaching as low as 1.4mbpd in August. The country has not produced at 2.2mbpd since the militant commence attacks on the nation oil facilities 7 months ago, this puts the feasibility of 2.2mbpd in 2017 in question,” he added.