Nigeria’s naira weakened against the dollar, heading for a second straight weekly decline, as foreign-exchange sales by the oil industry slowed after the month end.
The currency of Africa’s biggest oil producer depreciated 0.1 percent to 157.85 per dollar on the interbank market as of 12:02 p.m. in Lagos, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The naira has fallen less than 0.1 percent this week.
“Sales from oil majors have somewhat dried right now,” Adedayo Idowu, an analyst at Vetiva Capital Management Ltd., said by phone from Lagos today.
The surge in inflation in January to 12.6 percent from 10.3 percent in December was in line with policy makers’ expectations and doesn’t require an interest rate response, Nigerian central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said Feb. 28.
The oil industry is the second-biggest supplier of foreign currency after the central bank, which sells U.S. dollars at twice weekly auctions.
Ghana’s cedi fell for a third day, depreciating less than 0.1 percent to 1.7073 per dollar.
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