Omodele Adigun with agency report
The Naira fell to N463 to a dollar on the black market Thursday from 461 the previous session after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to unify the multiple exchange week, traders said.
Traders were said to have bid up rates in anticipation of demand shifting to the unofficial market. CBN is yet to resume dollar sales to retail currency agents, the Bureaux de Change(BDCs) patronised by individuals.
This is coming as the excess crude account stood at $72.41 million as of July 7, according to the Finance Minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, yesterday. Ahmed gave the figure during a meeting of the National Economic Council. The oil savings account, which holds dollar reserves from sales of crude above the assumed benchmark price, contained $324.54 million as of November 20 last year.
Meanwhile, the foreign exchange (forex) turnover fell by 88 per cent on Wednesday at the I&E window weakening the exchange rate to N386.76/$1. The exchange rate at the black market however remained flat at N461/$1.
