The value of the naira dropped by 1.21 per cent to N173.20 to the dollar on the interbank market yesterday despite the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN has been intervening at the foreign exchange market asides its twice weekly Retail Dutch Auctions which holds on Mondays and Wednesdays as part of measures to support the naira.
The naira which sold last week Friday at N171.1 to the dollar dropped in value as banks avoided the foreign exchange auction. Dealers said the CBN asked lenders to bid for $2 million each in a move to shore up the local currency, but commercial banks avoided the forex auction as the central bank was restricting the re-sale margins to curb speculation.
As at last Friday, the external reserves of the country had dropped by 2.25 per cent month-to-date, as the CBN continued to dip into it to defend the naira.
The reserves which were $38.459 billion at the beginning of the month had dropped to $37.594 billion as at November 14, 2014 even as oil prices continued to fall.
The coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has announced a revision of the benchmark oil price to $73 per barrel.
She said the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which was recently submitted to the National Assembly had been revised. InThe MTEF, which had proposed a benchmark of $78 per barrel of oil for the 2015 budget, is now revised downwards to $73 per barrel and would be re-submitted to the National Assembly for approval.
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