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ABUJA, June 25 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank will
strive to increase its foreign reserves to safeguard the value
of the naira currency and has put in place measures to curb
speculation, it said on Thursday.
The statement came as Nigeria's economy takes a battering
from both the new coronavirus pandemic and a global oil price
crash. In an effort to stem the worst effects, the government is
turning to foreign reserves and ramping up debt.
Nigeria's reserves declined $8.5 billion to around $36
billion in May, the central bank said. The naira, quoted at 360
on the official market, is trading on the unofficial black
market at around 455 to the dollar.
Dollar shortages have plagued Nigeria's economy since the
global oil price crash slashed government revenues and weakened
the naira NGN=D1 .
The central bank statement did not say by how much it wants
to increase reserves or whether it saw an equilibrium exchange
rate of the naira against the U.S. dollar.
On Wednesday the bank said it would work towards the gradual
unification of exchange rates across all forex windows, echoing
a similar call by the finance minister a week earlier.
Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, operates a multiple
exchange rate regime, which it has used to manage pressure on
the currency and to absorb the impact of low oil prices.