The naira slumped further against the United States dollar at the official market on Tuesday, closing at 1,300 per dollar.
This came as the Central Bank of Nigeria ramped up efforts to stem the tide, selling more dollars to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.
The apex bank disclosed the dollar sale in a new circular signed by its Director of Trade and Exchange, Dr Hassan Mahmud. It was referenced TEM/FEM/PUB/001/013 and uploaded to its website on Tuesday.
The apex bank said it was selling $10,000 to BDCs at N1,021 per dollar and mandated the operators to sell at a margin not more than 1.5 per cent above the CBN rate.
The statement read, “We write to inform you of the sale of $10,000 by the CBN to BDCs at the rate of 1,021/$. The BDCs are in turn to sell to eligible end users at a spread not more than 1.5 per cent of the purchase price.”
Despite this, there was still no respite for the naira as it continued its downward trend against the dollar on Tuesday, slumping to N1,300 per dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.
Analyses of the numbers revealed that the intra-day high depreciated by N22, closing at N1,317 per dollar from N1,295 per dollar. The intra-day low however gained to N1,000 from N1,051 per dollar. While the total daily turnover increased slightly to $133.65m from $110.17m on Monday.
At the parallel market, currency dealers sold the dollar between N1,300 and N1,320 on Tuesday from N1,260 recorded on Monday.
Earlier this month, the Central Bank sold $10,000 to BDCs at a rate of N1101/$ and directed the BDCs to sell to eligible customers at a rate not exceeding 1.5 per cent above the purchase price.