The pressure on foreign exchange intensified on Wednesday as the dollar completely disappeared from the market as nervous consumers bought the American currency to hedge against imminent devaluation of the naira.
Consequently the dollar sold on Wednesday for over N370, from N359/$ where it traded on Monday at the black market.
“I did not even see the dollar. It is scarce,” one of the black-market operators at the Lagos International Airport told BusinessDay.
Also at Apapa and Festac areas of Lagos, the dollar was scarce as customers were seen scrambling and making phone calls all over in quest for the currency.
The local currency fell to N367 per dollar on Tuesday. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been intervening on the official market in an effort to narrow the currency’s spread with the black-market rate. On the official market, the currency was quoted at N306.95kobo per dollar.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, the naira closed at N368 per dollar from N366.71kobo traded on Monday, data from FMDQ show.
Oil price (Brent Crude) has fallen to as low as $35 per barrel since the outbreak of coronavirus in China.
The CBN will issue a total of N512.8 billion worth of Treasury Bills in the second quarter of 2020 as the same amount will be maturing between March and May this year.
The CBN stated this in the Nigerian Treasury Bills issuance programme calendar released on Wednesday.
The breakdown of the Nigerian T-bills programme to be issued in the next three months of year 2020, which represents the amount that will mature during the period, consists of a total of N94.2 billion for 91 days tenor, N86.2 billion for 182 days tenor and N332.3 billion for 364 days tenors.
The CBN issues Treasury Bills twice in a month to help the Federal Government fund its budget deficit, support banks in managing liquidity in the system and curb inflation.
Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 12.13 percent in January 2020 from 11.98 percent recorded at the end of December 2019.
NTBs and FGN Bonds were issued by the CBN at the primary market on behalf of the Debt Management Office (DMO).
Consequently, NTBs of 91- 182- and 364-day tenors, amounting to N716.26 billion, N3,020.41 billion and N716.26 billion were offered, subscribed to and allotted, respectively, at the auctions held in the fourth quarter of 2019.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
