CBN Strengthens Forex Market With $195m

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday intervened in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market to the tune of $195 million.

Isaac Okorafor, the CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications, made the disclosure in a statement yesterday.

Okorafor said while the Apex Bank lifted the wholesale auction segment with $100 million, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisible segments got $50 million and $45 million, respectively.

The CBN spokesperson said the intervention was “in line with its commitment to sustain liquidity in the market to meet genuine requests as well as deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market.”

He recalled that the Bank had last Friday intervened in the market with “$462,336,426.74, comprising $267,336,426.74 for the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), $100,000,000 for wholesale interventions, $50,000,000 for the SMEs forex window and $45,000,000 for invisibles.”

The CBN is impressed by “the positive impact its current foreign exchange management was having on the manufacturing sector, agriculture and economic activities in general across the country,” Okorafor noted.

Meanwhile the CBN has urged members of the public who may have genuine Forex needs to approach their banks, noting that the banks have enough Forex to go round within the CBN stipulated time frame.

Okorafor noted that Naira to Dollar as of Monday, July 31, 2017 hovered at between N360 and N362/$1 in the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment.