Nigeria’s central bank on Monday weakened the naira marginally, selling dollars at 307 naira each for the first time on the official interbank market, in what traders say could signal a gradual move to merge its multiple exchange rates.
Nigeria’s convoluted exchange rate system has been used to manage what the central bank described as “frivolous” demand for dollars at the peak of a currency crisis which began two years ago.
The West African country now has at least five exchange rate including the official one which the bank used to mask pressure on the currency.
In April it allowed foreign investors to trade the its currency at market determined rate, which has weakened the currency to around 360.
The bank has sold $500,000 almost on daily basis on the official spot market since creating several exchange rates to alleviate dollar shortages.
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However it had sold the currency at rates of between 305 and 306 naira for months before Monday’s move.
”It’s possible the central bank is working towards a gradual convergence of rates, one trader told Reuters.
Earlier this month the bank sold dollars at 306 naira for the second time after maintaining a level of around 305 naira on the spot market for two months.
Dollar shortages gripped Africa’s biggest economy as crude sales, Nigeria’s mainstay, plunged at the start of an oil price rout in 2014.
That triggered a recession last year and frustrated businesses, which had to find dollars on the black market as a result.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")