Naira Appreciates To N516 Per Dollar In Black Market
The Naira gained four points to trade at N516 from the N520/dollar rate on Monday, February 20.
The local currency also appreciated to N630 against the Pound sterling from N635 and N540 from N545 against the Euro.
This comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will sell $500 million, about N200 billion, another desperate attempt to save the troubled naira, a day after it announced a new policy in regards to foreign exchange.
Nigeria has been running short of dollars as its oil revenues has fallen along with the price of crude. That has driven the naira to a record low of 520 to the dollar on the black market yesterday, far weaker than the official interbank rate of 305.
The central bank, under pressure from the government to narrow the gulf between the official and black market rates, on Monday, February 20, effectively devalued the naira for consumers, offering to sell them dollars at about half the premium the black market charges.
On Tuesday, February 21, the apex bank said it would sell dollars through wholesale bids to banks, as opposed to selling to individual customers. The banks can then allocate the dollars to their customers, the central bank said in mail to commercial banks, asking them to maintain the bid spread of 0.50 naira.
Source: Naij.com
