LAGOS: Nigeria’s currency touched a record low against the dollar yesterday, a day after the central bank devalued it by 8 percent, complicating efforts to contain inflation before presidential elections early next year.
Falling world oil prices and a retreat from emerging markets have put pressure on the currencies of several oil producers, including Angola, where the Kwanza also hit a record low, as well as that of Africa’s top producer Nigeria.
The central bank has spent several billion dollars defending the naira this year but it devalued the local unit and raised interest rates sharply on Tuesday to try to stem its losses.
Yesterday, the bank sold $667m at its twice weekly forex auction to meet a backlog of dollar demand, which combined with dollar sales from some multinational oil companies enabled the naira to close up 0.3 percent at 176.80. But that was still just below the central bank’s new target band of 5 percent either side of 168 to the dollar.
Reuters
