Naira Notes

The naira strengthened against the United States dollar at the interbank segment of the forex market Monday due to inflow of the greenback into the system.

In fact, due to the increased liquidity position at the interbank market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reduced its supply of the greenback at its first session of the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) for December by 10 per cent.

Data made available by the Financial Market Dealers Association (FMDA) showed that the interbank, the local currency jumped by 20 kobo to close at N157.15 to a dollar yesterday, compared with the N157.35 to a dollar it stood as at last Friday.

But the naira was stable at the WDAS as it maintained the N155.76 to a dollar it was last week. The CBN offered a total of $180 million to the 16 banks that participated at the auction, but only a total of $164.281 million was sold.

The apex bank had offered a total of $200 million, which was completely sold at its previous auction.

Dealers disclosed that the performance of the naira was buoyed by dollar sales by Mobil, which according to them, sold $50 million; and Agip which also sold $5 million and Shell and Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) that also supplied dollars to the market.