The Central Bank of Nigeria devalued the naira at one of its currency auctions, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said in its latest report.
The weakening comes after Governor Godwin Emefiele announced final month that the bank plans to unify its multiple exchange rates to improve the transparency of its currency-management system.
At an auction for importers on Friday, the CBN asked that bids for foreign exchange be made at N380 per United States dollar compared with N360 previously, the people said.
Isaac Okorafor, spokesperson for the CBN, didn’t answer calls to his mobile phone or reply to messages seeking comment.
The bank previously devalued the currency in March when it adjusted the official peg against the dollar to N360 from N307.
There’s another rate for investors & exporters known as the nafex window, which acts as a spot-rate for the naira.
The nafex — which has been relatively regular around N388 per dollar since mid-May subsequent a recovery in oil prices — was introduced in 2017 as a way of wooing back foreign investors spooked by an economic crisis, without formally devaluing the currency.
The naira as well as trades widely in the black market, which Emefiele has said is illegal & is sold by the regulator to companies & individuals at varying rates.
Investors & the International Monetary Fund have long called for Nigeria to merge its multiple exchange rates, saying the absence of a single rate creates confusion & deters foreign investment.
On Thursday, Naira News had exposed how the CBN intentionally prevents naira from appreciating against the United States dollar.
According to documents seen by wayloaded, the apex bank, which has refused to reveal the exact foreign remittances it has received from 2016 to 2018, intentionally stocks the US dollars it receives on behalf of Nigerians to trade them off through crooked means.
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