Nigeria’s Central Bank Injects $210m Into Forex Market

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, March 12, 2018, said it injected another $210m into the inter-bank foreign exchange market in its quest to ensure continued availability for customers across various segments of the market.
This is coming shortly after Friday’s injection of the sum of $355.43m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
Details of Monday’s intervention showed that $100m was offered to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market; the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) received $55m; while customers requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, got the remaining $55m.
Isaac Okorafor, Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD) of the CBN, confirmed the figures and reassured the public that the apex bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market. This, he stressed, is in line with its desire to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability. He added 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, 2018.
Meanwhile, the Naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N360/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Monday, March 12, 2018.