Naira yesterday strengthened against the US dollar, gaining N2.57 kobo at the inter-bank market to close at N160.12/$ compared to N162.70/$ on Friday, data from Financial Markets Dealers Association have shown.
Analysts attributed the naira appreciation to the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the bi-weekly Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) yesterday.
The CBN offered and sold a total of $300 million to 18 deposit money banks at WDAS at rate of N155.75/$.
On the contrary, naira depreciated by N1.50 kobo at both the bureau de change and parallel market closing at N163.50/$ and N164.00$ as against N162.00/$ and N162.50/$, respectively, on Friday. At the official market, naira remained stable at N155.75/$.
Money market yesterday experienced liquidity squeeze as the Nigerian Inter-Bank Offered Rates (NIBOR) rose for all tenor buckets.
For instance, call tenor climbed to 13.54 percent from 11.79 percent on Friday. Similarly, 7 days and 30 days tenor increased to 13.66 percent and 13.91 percent from 12.12 percent and 12.45 percent, respectively, the previous day.
