The nation’s currency, the naira, yesterday, weakened against the US dollar at the inter-bank market losing 37 kobo to close at N158.65/$ as against N158.28/$ the previous day, data from the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) has revealed.
An analyst told BusinessDay that the depreciation was due to short supply of the greenback as other complementary sources of dollar supply were completely quiet. For instance, there was no sale from the energy companies and there was no inflow from the offshore investors. Meanwhile, there was increased demand of the greenback for home consumption and for travellers during the Easter period, the analyst said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday offered and sold $300 million to 19 successful deposit money banks that participated at the foreign exchange Dutch auction at the rate of N155.75/$.
The local currency yesterday remained stable at the official, bureau de change and parallel markets closing at N155.75/$, N160.0000/$, and N160.5000/$, respectively.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
