The Central Bank of Nigeria has intervened with another sum of $210m in the foreign exchange market to meet the requests of customers, as the regulator continues its efforts to maintain a stable exchange rate for the naira.
A breakdown of the figures obtained from the bank in Abuja on Tuesday, indicated that the CBN offered the sum of $100m to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, just as it allocated the sum of $55m each to the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises segment and the invisibles segment to meet needs for tuition and medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance, among others.
Confirming the releases, the CBN Acting Director in charge of the Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, said the continued intervention by the bank was in line with its commitment to ensure liquidity in the market as well as reduce pressure on the naira.
Okorafor said that the CBN was pleased with the current market situation brought about by policies it had put in place to check forex speculators, round trippers and rent-seekers.
He noted that the policies had helped to stabilise the exchange rate in addition to the establishment of the Investors-Exporters window, which had increased FX supply with over $20bn inflow since its inception.
According to Okorafor, the bank will not relent in its effort to manage the country’s forex with a view to reducing its import bills and checking any hemorrhage of its foreign reserves.
The CBN, in its last intervention last Tuesday intervened to the tune of $210m to cater for requests in the various segments of the forex market.
Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the forex market, exchanging at an average of N360/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Wednesday.
Posted by Juliet Ekwebelam (Punch)
