The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday made a slight adjustment to its naira-dollar exchange rate peg, data on its website showed.
The bank adjusted the rate at which it sold the United States dollar from N197 to N196.95, Reuters reported.
Prior to Thursday’s action, the rate had been oscillating between N197 and N199 for a few months.
The CBN, however, described Thursday’s rate movement as a simple reflection of the state of dollar supply in the market.
“We are not fixing rates. The present rate is a reflection of the level of dollar supply in the market,” the CBN spokesman, Ibrahim Muazu, told Reuters.
The naira has lost 8.5 per cent of its value since the start of the year after sharp falls in the price of oil. That forced the central bank into a de facto devaluation and fixing of the exchange rate in February in order to protect its dwindling foreign reserves.
The regulator also banned commercial lenders from re-selling central bank dollars among themselves, which was an attempt to curb speculation on the naira.
