CBN again, injects $195mn to saturate ease of access at forex market on naira gain
The sustained but momentary recovery of naira at the interbank market received another boost Tuesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released another lump of $195 million.
Acting Director of Corporate Communications at the apex bank, Isaac Okorafor, gave a breakdown of the release, saying the amount $150 million was released through wholesale auction just as the the remaining $45 million was for medicals, tuition, Personal and Business Travel Allowance.
He noted that CBN acted promptly and proactively in line with its promise to keep the market liquid enough to meet the needs of genuine requests, stressing that already, commercial banks were becoming saturated with foreign exchange, as most of them were now able to meet demands for foreign exchange within the stipulated time frame.
In his presentation, Okoroafor averred that “As you can see all the pent-up demand for invisibles have been met to the extent that banks are urging customers to come and obtain forex.”
He added that CBN’s desire to continue to fund the importation of raw materials, plants and machinery for manufacturing, agriculture, and other eligible items spurred the speed of the injection.
The CBN had in the past two weeks had pumped over $1.2 billion into the foreign exchange market to stem liquidity challenges faced by businesses and individuals.
Before the end of last week, it pushed in $170 million into the foreign exchange market, as foreign reserves hit $30 billion.
Just as Monday’s sales saw appreciation of Naira against the Pound Sterling, trading at N540, while it fell against the Euro, trading at N475 compared to the N470 it sold for on Monday, at the Bureau De Change window, the Naira continues to trade for N399 to a dollar, while a Pound Sterling and Euro changes for N580 and N525 respectively.
However, at the interbank window, Naira stood at N306 at the end of business Wednesday.
