CBN injects $142.5m into Forex market

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, July 10, 2017, injected a total of $142.5 million into the inter-bank foreign exchange, days after intervening in the retail segment of the market with the sum of $254.3million.

A breakdown of the Monday’s intervention indicates that the Bank offered the sum of $100million to dealers in the wholesale segment, while it allocated the sum of $23 million to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment. Those requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) received $19.5 million.
Confirming the latest round of forex intervention, the spokesperson of the apex Bank, Isaac Okorafor, said the CBN will continue to carry out its regular mediation in the market so as to keep the market liquid and guarantee the international value of the naira in line with its mandate.

While reiterating the Bank’s resolve to intervene in the market based on bids received from dealers on behalf of their respective customers, Okorafor said the CBN will not relent in ensuring transparency and efficiency in the sale of forex. According to him, this commitment prompted the Bank to mandate dealers to make public their forex utilization. He therefore urged all stakeholders to continually play their roles to guarantee transparency in the market.

It will be recalled that the CBN last Friday intervened in the retail segment of the forex market to the tune of $254.3m following bids received from forex dealers by the apex Bank. The figure sold by the Bank was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industry.
Meanwhile, the naira maintained its stand at the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the forex market, exchanging at an average of N364/$1 in Lagos, Abuja and Kano.