Nigerian naira weakens 0.59 pct on dollar shortage

Nigeria's naira weakened further in the parallel market on Thursday, down 0.59 percent after the central bank's exclusion of some bureaux de change operators from its dollar sale on Wednesday created a shortage of dollars.
The local currency was quoted at an unofficial 253 to the dollar, down from 251.5 at the previous day's close.
The local currency was trading at 198.97 to the dollar on the official interbank market at 1117 GMT, close to a rate at which it has been pegged since February.
The central bank had sold $30.5 million to 1,017 bureaux de change agents on Wednesday but excluded around 1,801 others from its weekly sale. That led to a shortage of dollars on the unofficial market and pushed the naira lower, said Aminu Gwadabe, president of Nigeria's bureau de change association.
"We are in contact with the central bank to resolve issues around the exclusion of some of our members from the forex sales and we are expecting positive response," Gwadabe said.