CBN Injects $210m Into Forex Market

By CLEMENT NWOJI, Abuja

In continuation of efforts to ease foreign exchange pressure in Nigeria, the nation’s apex bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, injected sum of $210 million into various segments of the inter-bank market.

This is even as the bank threatened to sanction any foreign exchange authorised dealer who indulge in abuse of the trading process.

The CBN offered the sum of $100,000,000 as wholesale interventions and allocated the sum of $55 million to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) forex window at the Monday trading.

Also, it offered Customers requiring forex for Business/Personal Travel Allowances, tuition and medical fees, among others, an allocation of $55 million.

The Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the sales and reiterated that the Bank would sustain its interventions in the foreign exchange market.

He expressed optimism that the value of the naira would continue to spike in the face of accretion to the foreign reserves and the attendant reduction in the country’s import bill.

In a statement, while also attributing the stability in the market to the Bank’s transparency and cooperation of authorized dealers, he urged all dealers to continue to play by the rule, as the CBN would not hesitate to sanction any erring bank or dealer.

Meanwhile, the naira continued to maintain its stable run against major currencies around the globe, exchanging for N362/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on yesterday.