The nation’s currency which has witnessed a stable appreciation trend for over three weeks is expected to strengthen further as Bureau De Change (BDC) operators prepares to receive more dollar from the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) today and tomorrow, MetroBusinessnews reports.
Naira yesterday firmed against the US dollar at the inter-bank spot market by N0.25k or 0.08 percent to close at N304.75k as against N305.00k closed the previous day, according to data from FMDQ.
At the BDC segment of the foreign exchange market, the local currency remained stable at N454 per dollar.
However, it depreciated against the greenback at the parallel market by N2.00k to close at N455 per dollar yesterday. This represents 0.44 percent fall compared to N455 per dollar.
Nigeria’s overnight interbank rate crashed yesterday to around 20 percent from 150 percent the previous day after the central bank of Nigeria (CBN)sold less hard currency than expected at a special auction, traders said.
Traders noted that the Central Bank has released the result of the auction, but the amount sold fell short of market expectations.
The interbank rate fell after the auction as banks had now more surplus liquidity from funds not used to buy hard currency, dealers told Reuters.
Banks had been required to fund their accounts to participate in the auction, causing the cost of borrowing to soar.
Traders said the volume of the forex auction was not immediately available, adding that dollars were sold at a range of 310-350 per dollar by the central bank.
