Naira appreciates as CBN, oil firm sell dollars

The naira firmed 0.30 per cent against the U.S. dollar on Monday, after one oil company sold dollar to some banks and the central bank intervened to prop up the currency. The local unit closed at N164.40 to the dollar, up from Friday’s close of N164.90. The naira has been trading around N164 to N165 to the U.S. dollar, supported by direct intervention which helped the unit recover from as low as N169, hit when the government last month suspended the central bank governor.

Dealers said the central bank had sold an undisclosed amount to some lenders on the interbank market, while $20 million were sold by the local unit of Italian oil company Eni. “We see the naira at around 165 this week, unless more dollars come into the market,” one dealer said.