Again, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) intervention could not rescue devalued naira on Monday, December 1, as it closed at new record low against the dollar.
From about N180.90 to the dollar on Friday, November 28, the local currency crumbled to N184.42 to the dollar at official market, well below new target band.
At the parallel market, it closed at about N186 to the dollar, even as some dealers insisted on N186.50.
Meanwhile, price of Brent Crude touched below $68 before recovering to about $69 per barrel, a development that threatens increased pressure on the naira as investors fret on concerns over crashing crude price.
CBN devalued naira by 8 percent against the dollar, Tuesday last week, in a bid to halt depletion in the foreign reserves but has struggled to keep the currency in its targeted range since then.
Dealers disclosed that CBN had to intervene on Monday to rescue naira after the local currency headed above N184.42 to the dollar. Consequently, CBN sold some amount of dollars to banks, a move that lifted naira to close at N184.10 to the dollar, 2.9 percent weaker than its previous close on Friday and 4.4 percent below the lower end of the bank’s new target band.
CBN’s target band since the devaluation is 5 percent plus or minus N168 to the dollar.
In similar development, the Nigerian equities market traded at losses on Monday.
The All Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dipped 1.82 per cent to peg year-to-date (YtD) return at -17.94 per cent.
A total of 33 stocks traded at losses compared with 18 that recorded price gain.
The stock exchange oil and gas index (NSEOILG5) recorded the worst losses by 2.92 per cent on concern about falling oil prices.
It was followed by NSE30 and NSEFBT10 with 1.72 per cent and 1.59 per cent loss accordingly.
OANDO and SEPLAT lost the most by 9.44 and 5.95 per cent respectively.