CBN buoys Forex supply with $210m

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again intervened in the interbank foreign exchange market by injecting the sum of $210million in the sales concluded on Wednesday, November 21, 2018. Figures obtained from the Bank indicated that it offered the sum of $100million to the wholesale segment, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million.

Similarly, the invisibles segment, comprising tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, also received a $55 million boost. The Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the figures, said the CBN was pleased with the state of the Forex market, adding that the Bank will continue to intervene in order to sustain the liquidity in the market and guarantee the international value of the naira.

He said the Bank was determined to achieve its objective of exchange rate stability, thus the continued injection in the foreign exchange market. According to him, the level of transparency in the market was also a confidence boost for the market.

It will be recalled that the CBN in its last intervention window on November 16, 2018, injected the sum of $318.03m and CNY 62.18m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS). Meanwhile, the naira continued to maintain its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N361/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Wednesday, November 21, 2018.