C-R-I-S-I-S: Overnight Lending Rate Spikes to 100%, Dollar Hits N200.02 at The Interbank

Nigerian overnight interbank rate spiked to a record high of 100 percent on Tuesday, up from 60 percent on Monday, on naira cash shortages after the lenders funded forex and bond purchases the previous day, dealers said.

The central bank has been tightening liquidity and intervening directly with dollar sales to commercial lenders to support the ailing naira, hit by falling oil prices.

The Nigerian naira hit a new record low of 200.02 to the dollar on Tuesday despite a central bank intervention to try to halt its slide.

The unit fell 1.4 percent from its opening value of 197.30 naira to the dollar, Thomson Reuters data showed. The central bank sold an undisclosed amount of dollars but it was not sufficient to support the naira, dealers said.

Source: Reuters