Naira eases N1.40k against dollar on equity, bond market outflow

The naira on Friday weakened the most against the US dollar losing N1.40 kobo at the inter-bank market to close at N162.70/$ compared to N161.30/$, the previous day, data from Financial Markets Dealers Association have indicated.

Analysts attributed the significant depreciation of the naira to outflow of profits made in the equity market.

Similarly, the naira eased against the dollar at both the bureau de change and parallel market losing N1.50 kobo each to close at N162.00/$ and N162.50/$ as against N160.50/$ and N161.00/$, respectively, the previous day. At the official market, naira remained stable closing at N155.75/$.

However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week offered and sold a total of $600 million to 40 deposit money banks that participated at its bi-weekly Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) at N155.75/$.