Naira falls N1.28k against dollar at inter- bank market

… overnight rate rises to 19.08%

The nation’s cur- rency, the naira on Wednesday, lost its value against the US dollar by N1.28k or 0.65 percent as a result of increased demand by end users.

After trading on Wednesday, the local cur- rency closed at N198.78/$ as against N197.50/$ traded the previous day, data from the Financial Markets Dealers Quota- tions (FMDQ) revealed.

 Naira on Tuesday, strengthened by 0.3 per- cent against the USD in the inter-bank, and -7.0 percent Year-To-Date, according to Ecobank report.

Inter-bank stability was driven by USD sup- plies by the CBN, and to a lesser extent, USD sales from oil companies.

The currency market rate is expected to be driven by, likely, policy pronounce- ments from the new gov- ernment, analysts at Afr- invest said.

At the money market, the overnight inter-bank rate, the rate at which banks borrow and lend immediately available fund to each other, rose by 5.38 percent to 19.08 percent from 13.71 per- cent the previous day.

Also, the Nigerian in- ter-bank offered rates for one month, three months and six months increased from 15.23 percent, 16.29 percent, and 17.56 percent on Tuesday, to 15.77 per- cent, 17.02 percent, and 17.96 percent, at the close of trading on Wednesday, according to the data ob- tained from FMDQ.

The CBN’s market li- quidity management of- fice (MLMO) sold N32 billion ($161m) of 146- day OMO bills on June 5. The stop rate was: 13.73 percent.

On the other hand, the Debt Management Office (DMO) raised N60 billion ($305m) through three offerings (all re- openings): 15.54 percent FGN FEB 2020 (N20bn), 14.2 percent FGN MAR 2024 (N20bn), and 12.149 percent FGN JUL 2034 (N20bn).

Stop rates were: 13.845 percent, 13.48 per- cent and 13.88 percent, respectively.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE