Aug 9 (Lagos) - Naira surged 1.1 % to a more than 2-week high on the interbank market on Thursday, after the state-owned energy company NNPC sold about $450 million to some lenders, boosting dollar liquidity in a tight naira market.

The naira was trading at 158.35 to the dollar at 1 PM, firmer than the 160.15 to the dollar at yesterday.

Dealers said a recent measure by the CBN to tighten liquidity has led to a shortage of naira cash to buy dollars. It also drove yields on the benchmark 3-year bond up to 16.45 %, from 15.23 % on Wednesday.