CBN boosts Forex Market with $210m

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has boosted the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market with the sum of $210million, to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.

In its quest to meet the customers’ needs in the sundry segments of the market, the CBN offered $100million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got the sum of $55 million, according to figures obtained from the Bank on Monday.

The figures also indicated that customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were allocated the sum of $55 million.

Mr. Isaac Okorafor, the Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), reiterated the Bank’s determination to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability. According to Mr. Okorafor, the CBN will continue to manage the forex with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting accretion to its foreign reserves.

It will be recalled that in the past week, the CBN intervened in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to cater for requests in the airlines, agricultural, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N361/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Monday.