LAGOS, MARCH 6, 2017 – Nigeria’s interbank forex market traded $540,000 in early deals at 375 naira per dollar, near a record low exchange rate hit last November, Thomson Reuters data showed on Monday.
The local currency traded at a record low of 375.50 to the dollar last November on the official interbank market before it reversed losses.
The interbank market traded a total of $3.77 million at multiple exchange rates on Monday, the data showed. It was quoted at 305.25 per dollar at 0951 GMT.
Traders said banks were selling dollars bought from international money transfer agents to retail customers at 375.
In February the central bank effectively devalued the naira for private individuals, offering to sell them the currency at around half the premium charged at the black market, in a bid to narrow the spread on the unofficial market.
The currency was quoted at 465 on the black market, 1.5 percent down from Friday’s close, as pressure was starting to pile up in that market segment despite a series of central bank intervention on the official market to boost liquidity.
On Monday, the central bank asked lenders to set up tellers for retail customers to buy and sell dollars in order to ensure access to hard currency. The regulator also asked banks to process demand for retail forex users within 48 hours.
