The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), again has injected another sum of $210 million into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market.
Figures obtained from the Bank today, Monday, showed that the apex bank offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million. Customers requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.
The Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures, reassuring the public that the Bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market in line with its desire to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.
He said that the steps taken so far by the Bank in the management of forex was paying off, as reflected by reduction in the country’s import bills and accretion to its foreign reserves which stood at $46 billion as at Friday, March 9.
It will be recalled that last Friday, the Bank injected the sum of $355.43 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N360/$1 in the BDC segment of the market today, Monday. [myad]