The naira on Wednesday firmed against the US dollar gaining N3.60k at the inter-bank market after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as oil company sold some dollars.
The CBN on Wednesday offered a total of $150 million but sold $159.77 million to some deposit money banks that participated at the twice Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS).
Also the state-oil company, NNPC, sold around $200 million to some commercial lenders, boosting liquidity on the interbank market.
Consequently, after trading on Wednesday, the local currency closed at N180.00k/$ as against N183.60k/$ the previous day, according to data obtained from the Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ).
The NGN weakened 0.1 percent against the USD at the inter-bank (-13.9% YTD) on December 9, 2014. Inter-bank performance continued to reflect strong and robust USD demand, driven by importers and speculation (given the uncertainty of the managed exchange rate regime) continue to undermine naira.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s foreign reserves fell to $35.95 billion by December 8, down 19.3 percent from a year earlier as the central bank stepped up its defence of the naira currency, data from CBN website has revealed.
The reserves of Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer fell from $44.53 billion in same period last year. Reserves stood at $37.98 billion a month ago, the data showed on Wednesday.
