ABUJA, Nigeria, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Nigeria's currency, the naira, fell to an all-time low Friday because of a drop in oil prices, and rose slightly after the central bank intervened.
The naira fell to 170 to the U.S. dollar, until a sale of U.S. dollars and a ban on payment for imported goods using foreign exchange currency was arranged by the Nigerian Central Bank.
"We are in the market now. We haven't abandoned the market. We will continue to defend the currency," Deputy Governor Sarah Alade told Bloomberg News.
There are concerns the falling price of crude oil, Nigeria's biggest export, will severely affect the country's economy. It is among the hardest-hit -- of oil-producing countries -- by an international excess of production, which has provoked a 25 percent fall in the price of Brent crude oil. Oil and natural gas account for 96 percent of Nigeria's export revenue and 80 percent of its government revenue.
Russia's ruble, Norway's krone and Canada's dollar have been similarly affected.
