(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria's naira is coming under pressure again.
It depreciated to 370 per dollar, the weakest level since August 2017, on the black market on Thursday, according to abokiFX.com, which collates rates from street-traders in Lagos, the nation's commercial hub. On the interbank market, the currency fell 0.7 percent to 365.73, its weakest since August 2017.
The decline comes after the price of crude oil plummeted 31 percent since early October, curbing export revenue for Africa's biggest producer and exacerbating a shortage of dollars. Nigeria's also experienced bond and stock outflows this year amid the rout in emerging-market assets.
The central bank will sell an additional $15,000 per week to each of the more than 4,000 registered foreign-exchange dealers at 357 naira, starting from Dec. 6, it said in an emailed statement. Dealers can already buy $20,000 three times weekly. The aim is to meet rising dollar demand from travelers ahead of the Christmas holiday season, it said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tope Alake in Lagos at talake@bloomberg.net;Paul Wallace in Lagos at pwallace25@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Robert Brand, Sophie Mongalvy
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