The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday continued its intervention as part of its relentless move to guarantee liquidity in the foreign exchange (FX) market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday injected $396.18m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segment.
A statement by the apex bank said the amount was targeted at meeting obligations in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.
According to Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, fx intervention in both the retail and wholesale sectors of the forex market were targeted primarily at ensuring liquidity in the market as well as encouraging production and trade, particularly now that the focus was on the promotion of local content.
Okorafor added that with the country’s reserves nearing $50bn, the CBN is even more determined to sustain the gains recorded through the various policy options it took to stem depletion of the external reserves and steer Nigeria out of recession.
Beyond ensuring liquidity in the inter-bank segment of the market, he said the CBN was committed to supporting efforts aimed growing the economy and further diversifying it away from oil.
Despite rates closing at N362/$1 on Friday, April 20, 2018, Okorafor, insisted that the market would remain stable and that the apex bank would ensure maintenance of the country’s external reserves so as to safeguard the international value of the Naira.
The CBN in its last SMIS on March 23, 2018, continued its intervention with the sum of $339.89, while also intervening in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market to the tune of $210,000,000, comprising of $100million for the wholesale segment and $55 million for both the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisibles segment on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.