/ 25 March 1999

NIGERIA DEVALUES NAIRA

THE Central Bank of Nigeria has devalued the currency by 4,34% from 86.25 naira to 90 to the dollar, officials said on Thursday. The move, announced on the country’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market on Wednesday, follows pressure from the International Monetary Fund to bring the currency into line with market forces. The naira sells for around 94 to the dollar on the black market, rising from around 91 in recent days in anticipation of the CBN’s move. The military government in December scrapped a second official rate of 22 naira to the dollar and promised to move towards a floating exchange rate.