By Agency Reporter
Thursday, 9 Dec 2010
The naira fell against the United States dollar on Wednesday as demand for the greenback outpaced supply at both the official window and the interbank market, traders said.
The local currency closed at 151.95 to the dollar at the interbank market, down from 151.30 a dollar on Tuesday, after the result of the bi-weekly foreign exchange auction showed the regulator sold fewer dollars than demanded, Reuters reported.
At the auction, the Central Bank of Nigeria sold $250m at N149.01 to the dollar, short of the $312.19m demanded but more than the $200 million sold at N148.91 to the dollar on Monday.
Traders said the naira initially fell to as low as N152.05 to the dollar after the auction result was released as some banks redirected their failed bids to the interbank market.
â€ÂÂThere have been some dollar inflows from some energy companies, but demand continue to increase in the light of the tighter regulations and the rush by companies to meet their obligations before winding down for the year,†one dealer said.
Source: Punch
