Naira Falls to N168.10, CBN's $200 Million sales fails to lift Naira

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened with $200 million sales on Monday but failed to lift the naira which fell by about 1.4 percent to close at N168.10 against the greenback, dealers said as foreign investors continued to exit Nigerian assets. The unit closed at N165.90 against the dollar on Friday. Foreign investors are exiting naira denominated assets as the twin spectre of a hit to oil companies and bank earnings and potential devaluation of the naira or depletion of reserves weigh on sentiment. “There is a risk that the current oil-price weakness and deteriorating exchange rate outlook will translate into further foreign selling of Nigerian debt. Fixed income portfolio outflows have gathered pace over the past few weeks, probably reaching around $ 700-800mn since mid-October,” said Standard Chartered analysts led by Samir Gadio, Head of the banks Africa Strategy and FICC Research. Foreign holdings of Nigerian debt fell to around $8.5bn in June ($ 4bn in T-bills and $4.5bn in bonds) from $ 11bn in December 2013, according to data from Standard Chartered. http://businessdayonline.com/2014/11/cbn-intervention-fails-to-halt-naira-slide-as-investors-exit-nigerian-debt/#.VGG7gsnUZGc