Naira gains 11 kobo
The naira appreciated against the dollar by 11 kobo at the first foreign exchange auction of the week conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria.At the end of the auction, the official exchange rate closed at N148.6 per dollar, up from N148.71
naira sygns
The appreciation was prompted by increased foreign exchange supply by the apex bank. The CBN offered and sold $250 million, up from $150 million supplied and sold at the last auction held Wednesday last week.
Investigations also revealed that some oil firms sold foreign exchange on Monday. It was gathered that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) sold about N200 million on Monday.
These increased foreign exchange supply forestalled further depreciation of the Naira. Last week, the naira opened with 12 kobo appreciation against the dollar in the first foreign exchange auction conducted by the CBN on Monday, with the official exchange rate dropping to N148.48 from N148.6 48. But it closed the week with 30 kobo depreciation at the second auction on Wednesday as the official exchange rate rose to N148.71 per dollar.
However, at the interbank foreign exchange market, the naira gained 106 kobo as the interbank exchange rate dropped to N150.4 per dollar from N151.46 per dollar.At the parallel market the exchange rate remained stable at N151.5 owing to weak demand attributed to the month long industrial holiday in China.
