The naira fell the most in almost a week on demand for dollars to fund gasoline imports.
The currency of Africa’s largest oil producer weakened 0.1 per cent, the most since January 23 on a closing basis, to N157.13 a dollar as of 3:42 p.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Nigeria relies on imports to meet 70 per cent of its fuel needs because of inadequate refining capacity, according to the Petroleum Ministry.
Fuel imports have been a source of pressure on the naira, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer, Valuechain Investment Limited, Mr. Tunde Ladipo, said, “Some oil importers got their import permit from the Pipeline and Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency last week and are demanding dollars.”
The CBN kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the eighth time on January 21. The regulator, which sells dollars to lenders at auctions on Mondays and Wednesdays to stabilise the naira, sold $150m at Monday’s auction, unchanged from the sale on January 23, it said in an e- mailed statement.
The inflation rate in December eased to 12 per cent, from 12.3 per cent in the previous month, as the effects of flooding that damaged agricultural output last year began to subside.
The yield on the country’s 16.39 per cent domestic bonds due January 2022 fell two basis points 11.28 per cent in the secondary market, according to January 25 data on the Financial Markets Dealers Association website.
The yield on $500m of Eurobonds due January 2021 rose three basis points to 3.802 per cent today.
Ghana’s cedi weakened 0.1 per cent to 1.8985 a dollar in Accra, the capital.