By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

The naira on Wednesday depreciated in the official and interbank market following failure of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to meet demand at the bi weekly foreign exchange auction.

The naira depreciated by 62 kobo at the interbank market as the interbank exchange rate rose to N152.6 per dollar from N151.98 on Tuesday. The depreciation was triggered by unsatisfied demand at the official Whole Dutch Auction System (WDAS) session on Wednesday.

Although the apex bank had not posted the results of the session as at the time of filing this report, Vanguard gathered that foreign exchange demand rose to about $400 million from $313.99 on Monday.

The CBN it was gathered reduced amount offered to $200 million from $300 million, resulting to unsatisfied demand of about $200 million.

On the international scene, the dollar weakened against all its most-traded counterparts as the U.S Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said policy makers will provide economic stimulus if needed and investor demand for higher-yielding assets increased.

The greenback fell the most in six months versus the euro as Bernanke said central bank is prepared to take additional action, including buying more government bonds, if the economy appears to be in danger of stalling. The Australian and New Zealand dollars led earlier gains against the currency after China’s economic growth exceeded analysts’ estimates.

The euro advanced as Italian and Spanish bonds rose for a second day. “The biggest sound bite from Bernanke was that he acknowledged the potential for an additional monetary stimulus package is out there if necessary and that really caught the market’s ear,” said Carl Forcheski, a director on the corporate currency sales desk at Societe Generale SA in New York. “It helps the risk-on trade.”

The dollar weakened 1.2 percent against the euro to $1.4146 at 2:12 p.m. in New York, its biggest drop since Jan. 13. It reached $1.3837 yesterday, the strongest level since March 11.