Forex: CBN injects $218.41m, CNY 18m into Retail SMIS

Ruth Eshio

In continuation of its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, February 7, 2020, injected the sum of $218.41million into the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) and CNY 18million in the spot and short-tenored forwards segment of the inter-bank foreign exchange market. The Bank’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor disclosed that the intervention, like in previous exercises, was for requests in the agricultural and raw materials sectors, adding that the Chinese Yuan, on the other hand, was for Renminbi-denominated Letters of Credit.

Mr. Okorafor further expressed satisfaction over the stability of the foreign exchange which, according to him, was largely due to sustained intervention by the Bank. He assured that the CBN Management would remain committed to ensuring that all the sectors of the forex market continue to enjoy access to the needed foreign exchange, stressing that the stability in the foreign exchange market continued to attract investors. 

It will be recalled that the Bank on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, offered authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market the sum of $100million, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the invisibles segments each received the sum of $55 million. Meanwhile, $1 exchanged for N358 at the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market, while CNY1 exchanged at N46 on Friday, February 7, 2020.