Naira closes at record low of N184.10 despite CBN intervention

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold an undisclosed amount of dollars to lenders on Monday to try to halt the slide of the Naira currency, but dealers said it was not sufficient to lift it.

The unit closed at a record low of 184.10 Naira to the dollar, 2.9 percent weaker than its previous close on Friday.

The Naira had initially

Naira falls to record low of 183.05 against the dollar

The naira touched a new record low of 183.05 against the dollar on Monday, driven by concerns over a sustained low oil price and expectations foreign investors would demand more dollars to pull out of local assets, dealers said.

The currency was trading down 2.4 percent from Friday’s closing level.

The central bank has struggled to keep the naira within its preferred band even after devaluing the currency by 8 percent last Tuesday in a bid to halt a decline in the foreign reserves of Africa’s biggest economy. Oil sales provide around 95 percent of those reserves.

The bank’s target band after devaluation is