nigerian naira steady, seen gaining next week

The Nigerian naira was broadly steady against the dollar on the interbank market on Wednesday as dollar liquidity remain sufficient to meet demand by importers and other end-users.
The naira closed at 160.60 to the dollar, little changed from the previous day's close of 160.68.
Traders said demand for the dollar remained weak while inflows from oil companies the previous day kept the market liquid.
"The naira is seen strengthening next week as we are expecting NNPC - the state-owned energy company- to sell dollars and some oil companies are yet to sell dollars in the market for month-end purposes," one dealer said.
Renewed interest in local debt by offshore investors coupled with large dollar sales by energy companies in the last three weeks have provided support for the naira.