The Central Bank of Nigeria intervened again to prop up the Naira on Thursday after its efforts to stamp out speculation by barring commercial banks from holding dollars failed to prevent the currency hitting another record low.
Confused by a central bank edict restricting domestic dollar holdings, dealers initially refused to quote prices for the naira, which has lost more than 12 percent since September due to a collapse in the price of oil, Nigeria's main export.
The standoff lasted for nearly an hour before Governor Godwin Emefiele confirmed that the emergency measures were designed to end speculative pressure on the currency of Africa's biggest economy.
Nigeria officially devalued the currency by eight percent last month and widened its target trading band to 160-176 against the dollar, but few analysts believe that level can hold, given dwindling state oil revenues and declining reserves.
As of Dec. 8, foreign reserves stood at $35.95 billion, down nearly 20 percent from a year ago after attempts to defend the naira in the face of a near-halving of global oil prices in the last five months.
Thursday's decline for the naira followed a record closing low on Wednesday after Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala slashed the economic growth forecast in her 2015 budget.
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