Apex bank injects $210m into foreign exchange market

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected another 210 million dollars into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market to meet customers’ requests in various segments.

Giving a breakdown of the intervention, the bank’s acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor on Monday in Abuja said that 100 million dollars was offered to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market.

He said that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of 55 million dollars.

Also, customers requiring foreign exchange for tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others were allocated the sum of 55 million dollars.

Okorafor said also that bidders who made bids in the wholesale window would receive value for the bids on Tuesday.

He reassured the public that the CBN would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market in line with its resolve to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

According to him, the steps taken so far by the CBN in forex management had yielded many positive results, particularly as it had to do with reduction in the country’s import bills and accretion to its foreign reserves.

It will be recalled that the CBN last Friday, intervened in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to the tune of 262.5 million dollars, to cater for requests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N360 to a dollar in the Bureau De Change segment of the market.