The supply of US dollars surged at the official foreign exchange market, rising to 180.59 per cent to $440.13 million last Friday as commercial banks rushed to avoid the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulatory sanction.
This comes as the Naira appreciated marginally to close Friday at N1,435.53 per Dollar after a turbulent week.
Data from FMDQ Security Exchange was disclosed on its official website at the close of work on Friday.
Similarly, the Naira recorded a gain in the parallel market last week, which traded at 1,440 per US dollar on Friday from N1,470 on Thursday last week.
Last week, the CBN issued a circular titled “Harmonisation of Reporting Requirements on Foreign Currency Exposures of Banks”, expressing worry over the growing trend of banks holding large foreign currency positions.
Consequently, the apex bank mandated that banks’ Net Open Position, NOP must not exceed 20 per cent short or 0 per cent long of the bank’s shareholders’ funds going forward.
