Nigerian Central Bank Adjusts Exchange Rate on Website to 379/$

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigerian central bank adjusted the exchange rate of the naira on its website to reflect the devaluation of the local currency last month.

The Abuja-based bank will exchange a dollar for 379 naira compared with 360 previously as an official exchange rate, according to an update of the rate on its website on Friday. The currency’s official value was reduced by 5.3% to 381 per the dollar last month on the Lagos-based FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria but the rate had remained at 360 on the central bank’s website sowing confusion among traders.

Africa’s biggest crude producer has pledged to move towards a single exchange rate from a multiple systems. This is following pressure from international lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from which it is seeking new loans to cover a wide balance of payments gap after this year’s plunge in oil prices.