Naira eased slightly on Monday on dollar demand from fuel importers and foreign investors repatriating dividends, despite oil firms selling the U.S. currency.
Demand for the U.S. dollar has surged in the last three weeks, exerting pressure on the naira, as fuel importers and investors repatriating their dividends snap up any available hard currency.
The unit closed at 158.28 to the dollar at the interbank, compared with Friday’s close of 158.20. This comes despite the Nigerian units of Chevron selling $28.8 million, Italian oil firm Eni selling $23 million and Chinese-owned Addax selling $13 million to some lenders, dealers said.
The central bank auctioned $350 million at 155.74 to the dollar on its foreign currency auction on Monday, as against $371.7 million it sold at the same rate at Wednesday’s auction.
