Forex Market: Retail SMIS Gets $358 Million

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected the sum of $358 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention sales (SMIS) for easing foreign exchange shortages in critical sectors.

Confirming the figure, the Bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor noted that the figure was meant to address foreign exchange needs in the agricultural, petroleum products, airlines, raw materials and machinery sectors.

Mr. Okorafor, while noting that the foreign exchange market was currently enjoying a great deal of stability, said the Bank would continue to intervene in order to ensure liquidity in the market.

According to him, the Bank’s effort had guaranteed access to foreign exchange to all those requiring it to meet their genuine needs, stressing the objective remained to sustain market liquidity and confidence in order to boost production and trade.

It will be recalled that at its last retail SMIS intervention on Friday, June 29, 2018, the CBN intervened with the sum of $318.73 million in the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

Meanwhile, the naira exchanged at N361/$1 in the Bureau de Change segment of the market on Friday, July 13, 2018.