Nigeria's central bank weakens naira FX peg at interbank

Nigeria's central bank weakened its exchange rate peg to 197 to the dollar on the interbank market on Friday, down from 196.97 on Monday, traders said.
Traders said the regulator set the new rate for market closing price on Thursday, making this the 11th adjustment since the bank introduced tight currency controls in February.
The central bank has resorted to adjusting the rate on the local currency since pegging it to the dollar in February and abolishing two-way naira quotes to help conserve forex reserves.
Traders said the present method of exchange rate fixing has led to an erosion of the country's forex reserves, which stood at $30.13 billion as of Oct. 27, down from $30.38 billion a month earlier.The central bank has resisted calls to further devalue the naira in the face of a plunge in vital oil revenues. But the bank has continued to intervene periodically to provide forex liquidity support for the local currency.
It also sells dollars twice-weekly to bureau de change operators as part of efforts to support the naira and narrow the gap between the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.