The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Wednesday said it made available the sum of $210m, to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the foreign exchange market in its desire to meet customer needs in the various segments of the market.
A breakdown of the intervention showed that $100m went to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got the sum of $55m.
Figures obtained from the CBN showed that customers in need of 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.
It will be recalled that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, during his post-MPC remarks on May 22, 2018 said that the country’s foreign reserve stood at $47.79billion and that pressure on the foreign reserve would be reduced as a result of the recent currency swap between the CBN and the Peoples Bank of China.
Also, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Isaac Okorafor, reiterated the CBN’s commitment to continue intervening in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability
He said the CBN would sustain its strategic management of forex, with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.
The apex bank had last Friday, May 18, 2018, intervened to the tune of $293m to cater for requests in the retail segment of the forex market.
Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N363/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.
At the meeting of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which ended on Tuesday, for example, members applauded the continued stability in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market “promoted by improved dollar liquidity in the market due to the high level of activity at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, that is equally driving rates towards convergence at all segments of the market.”
According to the communique issued at the end of the two-day meeting, signed by Godwin Emefeiele, the chairman and CBN Governor, “total foreign exchange inflow through the economy from January to March 2018 stood at US$24.719bn, of which funding from the CBN was US$8.81bn or 28.5%, while autonomous sources accounted for the larger balance of US$15.91bn or 71.5% of the total.
“In addition, the Committee welcomed the US$2.5bn or RMB 15bn Currency Swap between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC),” which it believes, will ease pressure in the FX market by reducing reliance on a third currency for trade settlement between Nigeria and China.
“They further noted that this swap arrangement could be the basis for an expanded and mutually beneficial economic relationship between Nigeria and China,” the communique added.