Naira drops as CBN reduces dollar supply

The naira depreciated for a second day, heading for the biggest drop in a week, after the Central Bank of Nigeria reduced the amount of dollars it sold at Wednesday's auction, Bloomberg reported.

The currency of Africa's biggest oil producer weakened 0.3 per cent, the most since February 27 on a closing basis, to N158.05 per dollar.

The CBN sold $150m, down from $234.9m at the previous sale on March 4. The regulator holds dollar auctions on Mondays and Wednesdays to help manage the exchange rate.

Oil companies, which sell dollars to lenders to meet local spending needs are the second-biggest source of foreign currency.

The Chief Executive Officer, Forward Marketing Bureau de Change Limited, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed, said, 'CBN's level of intervention wasn't enough to meet demand at the inter-bank market, as oil industry month-end sales have declined, after peaking on Monday