The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has risen to safeguard the interest of customers seeking to purchase foreign exchange for personal obligations and checkmate any attempt at causing panic in the market.
It has, as result, released the sum of $100 million into the Nigerian Forex market, aimed at accommodating the spike in the seasonal demand for foreign exchange to meet various personal obligations, particularly pilgrimage.
The release, which was made today, Thursday, came barely 24 hours after the Bank injected $210 million into the wholesale segment of the market.
Information reaching us said that the apex bank is planning to inject more United States Dollars into the foreign exchange market in the coming days, to checkmate any attempt to trigger artificial scarcity of the greenback.
The Bank’s Acting Director in the Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor confirmed that the various moves were meant to protect customers from the activities of speculators who might want to capitalize on the increase in demand for foreign exchange at this time to make brisk gains.
He said that the CBN had sufficient foreign exchange to meet genuine needs, even as he cautioned dealers against speculation.
He stressed that the speculators could lose much if they chose to hoard currencies in anticipation of a spike and depreciation in the value of the naira.
It will be recalled that the CBN on Wednesday, expressed displeasure at the action of some banks that reportedly refused to sell forex to customers requiring the currency for the purpose of pilgrimage or Personal and Business Travel Allowance.
