Big win for CBN as Nigeria records $1.5bn inflow in less than 1 week

The Acting Director of the Corporate Communications Department of the apex bank, Hakama Sidi Ali, revealed the achievement in a statement on Friday, March 29, 2024.

She attributed the development to the CBN's efforts to ensure stability in the foreign exchange market.

Ali quoted available data to the bank, which indicated that the inflows are a direct result of concerted efforts aimed at injecting liquidity and stability within the foreign exchange market.

The forex influx is a clear indication that the measures introduced by the apex bank are beginning to bear the expected fruit, reflecting positively on the Nigerian economy.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the inflow of over $1.5 billion into the economy over the past few days indicates that its monetary policy efforts are working positively.

“The Bank’s Acting Director of the Corporate Communications Department, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, made the assertions on Thursday, March 28, 2024. She noted that data available to the Bank indicated that the inflows resulted from the Bank’s concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market,” the statement partly read.

Ali also noted that the naira has recorded appreciable gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market as it traded at ₦1,309/$1 on Friday against ₦1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.

According to the CBN spokesperson, the new naira momentum signified that the currency is headed in the right direction. She also assured that the leadership under Olayemi Cardoso remains committed to maintaining market stability and ensuring the naira's competitive pricing against major global currencies.

The naira plummeted to an all-time low, exchanging for over 1,700/$ at the official market since the apex harmonised the country's exchange rate in the middle of last year.

Meanwhile, at its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the CBN announced a two-percent increase in its benchmark rate from 22.75% to 24.75%.

During his post-meeting briefing, the CBN Governor reiterated that the apex bank had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlogs, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the foreign exchange market.

In another proactive intervention by the CBN, the bank successfully conducted a Treasury Bills auction of ₦1.64trn on Wednesday.

The auction resulted in stop rates of 16.24 per cent, 17 per cent, and 21.124 per cent for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.