Naira: sinking deeper and deeper

Nigeria’s naira opened at new record low against the dollar on Tuesday, down 0.3 percent from previous close, then slid further as demand for the greenback continued unabated, dealers said.

The naira opened at 184.60 to the dollar and quickly fell to 187.55. In the parallel market, the Naira sold for over N190 as the scramble for US dollar continues.

Naira’s slide comes despite the auctioning of $169 million yesterday, but at a rate higher than the band it had set.

CBN sold the dollar at 168 naira, depreciating the currency by 1.78 percent from 165 naira it had auctioned the unit at its previous auction, dealers said.

The dollar supply fell far short of demand, pushing the excess demand to the interbank market.

The CBN devalued the naira by 8 percent against the dollar last week.