The naira on Wednesday weakened against the US dollar by N0.05k at the inter-bank market in spite of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) foreign exchange sales.
After trading on Wednesday, the local currency closed at N162.85/$ as against N162.80/$ the previous day, according to data obtained from Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ).
The CBN offered a total of $300 million but sold a total of $299.9 million to 21 deposit money banks in the country at the official foreign exchange rate of N155.74/$ at its bi-weekly Retail Dutch Auction System (RDA).
The NGN weakened 0.3% against the USD at the inter-bank (-1.6% YTD) on September 09, 2014. Interbank weakening was driven by stronger than expected USD outflows to cover import bills (energy and manufacturing sectors) and other FX obligations.
Naira on Monday depreciated by N0.01k to close at N155.74 against the US dollar at the official market, after about six months of trading for N155.73/$.
Analysts had said the naira/USD exchange rate may witness an upward pressure this week on the back of sustained high dollar demand by end users, fall in global crude oil prices and recent decline in external reserves.
