CBN Injects Fresh $210m Into Forex Market

Ifeanyi Omokwe
In continuation of its weekly intervention, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released the sum of $210 million into different segments of the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market.

Isaac Okorafor, the CBN’s Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, who confirmed the figures on Wednesday, said the latest intervention was part of the Bank’s quest to meet customers’ needs in the various segments of the market.

A breakdown of the Bank’s latest round of intervention indicates that the CBN offered the sum of $100 million to dealers in the wholesale window, while those in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window received an allocation of $55 million.

The invisibles segment, comprising Business/Personal Travel Allowances, school tuition, medicals, was allocated the sum of $55 million.

It will be recalled that the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, during his post-MPC remarks on Tuesday, said that the country’s foreign reserve stood at $47.79billion and that pressure on the foreign reserve would be reduced as a result of the recent currency swap between the CBN and the Peoples Bank of China.

The CBN director further reiterated the apex Bank’s commitment to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

He said that the CBN would sustain its strategic management of forex, with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.

It will be recalled that the Bank, last Friday, intervened to the tune of $293 million to cater for requests in the retail segment of the forex market.

Meanwhile, the Naira as of Tuesday, March 27, 2018, exchanged against the dollar at N363/$1 on the Bureau De Change segment of the market.