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Naira Falls Third Day As Bank Sells Least Dollars In Three Weeks

By on August 2, 2012

The naira fell for a third day against the dollar on the Nigerian interbank market after the central bank sold the lowest amount of U.S. currency in three weeks.

The currency of Africa’s biggest oil producer retreated 0.4 percent to 161.43 a dollar as of 12:11 p.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Central Bank of Nigeria sold $450 million at its foreign exchange auctions on Monday and Wednesday, the least since it sold a total of $343.53 million on July 9 and July 11. The Abuja-based regulator uses the auctions to stabilize the naira.

If the central bank “is not going to sell more than that it means you’ll have to go somewhere else,” Jide Solanke, a Lagos-based analyst at First Securities Discount House Ltd., said by phone today.

The yield on Nigeria’s seven-year domestic bonds due June 2019 fell five basis points to 16.06 percent, according to Aug. 1 data on the Financial Markets Dealers Association website. Yields on the nation’s $500 million of Eurobonds due 2021 rose 2 basis points to 5.35 percent today.