CBN boosts wholesale forex market with $210m
By The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday injected a total of $210 million, to meet customers’ demand for foreign exchange in the wholesale segment of the market.
The apex Bank in its desire to enhance liquidity and meet customers’ needs offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got the sum of $55 million.
According to figures obtained from the Bank on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, customers needing 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.
Consequently, the nation’s currency continued its stability, exchanging at an average of N362/$1 in the BDC segment on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.
However, naira depreciated on Tuesday to N361.30k per dollar, losing 0.12 percent compared to N360.87/$ traded the previous day at the investors and exporters forex window, data from FMDQ indicated.
The local currency also weakened at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX), by 0.16 percent to N361.57 per dollar on Tuesday from N361.01k/$ on Monday. At the CBN’s official window, naira traded the same, closing at the rate of N305.90/$.
It will be recalled that last week, CBN approved an upward review of the trading margin available to operators of Bureau De Change (BDC) in the country, allowing BDC operators could buy the United States dollar from the CBN at the rate of N357/$1 and sell at N360, thereby leaving them with a positive margin of N3.00 per dollar sold.
Meanwhile, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Isaac Okorafor, reiterated the Bank’s commitment to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability. Okorafor reiterated that 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 Bank last Monday, June 4, 2018, intervened to the tune of $210 million to cater for requests in the wholesale segment of the market.
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