Currency ends at 305 after central bank Dollar sales

October 17, 2016 12:59 PM

The Naira was quoted at 455 to the Dollar on the black market on Monday, firmer than 460 at its previous session

A trader changes dollars with naira at a currency exchange store in Lagos, Nigeria in this February 12, 2015 file photo.

Nigeria's central bank intervened on Monday with dollar sales to support the naira, which ended at 305.50 per Dollar, a range it has closed at for nearly two months, traders said.

Traders said the bank, which has been selling dollars regularly to prop up the currency, sold around $1.5 million towards the close of Monday's trade after the market was open for nearly four hours with no deals.

The Naira was quoted at 455 to the Dollar on the black market on Monday, firmer than 460 at its previous session, as international money transfer operators had started to sell Dollars to retail currency outlets. The currency had weakened to a record low of 495 per Dollar on the black market last month.

The bank held a dollar forward auction last Friday to clear a backlog of demand from airlines, manufacturers and other companies, as the country's currency crisis deepened. Result of the auction was yet to be published, traders say.