Nigeria overnight rate spiked to 90 percent on Tuesday, near record highs, up from 60 percent on Monday, dealers said, two days after the central bank debited lenders to enforce its cash reserve requirements.
Rates have been rising sharply for two days — the overnight lending rate stood at 27 percent on Friday last week, before the central bank withdrew the funds. Rates set a record high of 100 percent in February.
“Everyone scrambling for cash … liquidity is very tight after the central bank recalled 72 billion naira,” one dealer said.
The open balance with the central bank stood at 26 billion naira as at Monday, down from around 160 billion naira last week, traders said.
