CBN Sells Dollars at 305/Dollar on Spot Market

• CBN Sells Dollars at 305/Dollar on Spot Market

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday sold dollars at N306 for the second time, after maintaining a level around 305/dollar on the official spot market for two months, traders said.

The move was minor, to signal a change in foreign exchange policy, traders said, according to a Reuters report.

The bank last sold dollars at N306 on the spot market in September and had sold the currency as low as 306.65 in July.

Dollar shortages had gripped the economy as crude sales, Nigeria’s mainstay, plunged at the start of an oil price rout in 2014.

This triggered a recession last year and frustrated businesses, which had to find dollars on the black market as a result.

To try to resolve the currency crisis, the CBN has set up at least different six exchange rates, after devaluing the currency for retail users in February and allowing foreign investors to trade the naira at market-determined rates.

The naira was quoted at around 360/dollar for investors, near the parallel market rate and at a level at which it has traded for more than a month.