Nigeria’s naira closed flat against the dollar in the interbank market and weakened slightly on the official foreign exchange window on Wednesday as strong dollar demand kept pressure on the local currency, traders said.

The naira closed at 157.60 to the dollar at the interbank market on Wednesday, the same as the previous day. It hit a three week low of 157.55 on Monday.

On the bi-weekly forex auction, the central bank sold all the $150 million it offered at 155.76 to the dollar, compared with $162.2 million sold at 155.65 to the dollar on Monday.

Traders said units of Shell and Addax sold an undisclosed amount of dollars in the market, helping to stabilise the naira.

“The naira should trade within the present band because of a bit of dollar liquidity in the market, which should keep the market in check for the rest of the week and we also see more inflows from some offshore investors in bonds,” one dealer said.

The currency of Africa’s second biggest economy fell to its weakest in three weeks on the interbank market on Monday, as dollar demand by foreign exchange bureaux and importers outpaced supply of hard currency.

Source: Reuters (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Joe Brock)