MONDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2010ÂÂÂ
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) offered $300 million (about N45 billion) worth of foreign exchange for sale at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS). In a statement recently, the apex bank said that the foreign exchange was completely subscribed to at the 49th auction held on September 16.It said that during the week under review, the bid rate at the auction stood at $149.6 and the lowest being $148.69 while the marginal rate was $148.84.
According to the apex bank, 25 banks participated in the auction but only 21 succeeded.Besides, it said that the naira and the Nigerian Inter-Bank Offer Rate (NIBOR) were impressive throughout the week.The naira remained strong as it stood at N148 per dollar when compared with its fluctuation between N150 and N151 to the dollar the preceding week.The euro also remained stable between N191 and N192 while the pound sterling stood between N229 and N230 during the week under review.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the euro and the pound sterling have remained at these rates in the last three weeks.  The call rate rose by more than two times from the 0.2432 per cent that it opened with on Monday to 0.3042 per cent on Friday.The seven-day NIBOR also rose from 3.9250 per cent to four per cent during the same period, although it had remained low in the earlier part of the week.
Source:Guardian
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