Obinna Chima
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has resolved to raise dollar supply to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to $40,000 weekly from next week, up from the $20,000 it sold to the currency dealers this week, THISDAY learnt last night.
The move is in line with its aggressive bid to achieve exchange rate convergence and stability.
A reliable source disclosed this in a chat with THISDAY.
Earlier this week, the central bank had disbursed $20,000 each to the BDC operators in two tranches of $10,000 each, which according to the central bank’s spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, underscored the commitment of the bank to ensure liquidity in the foreign exchange market.
However, there are strong indications that the demand for foreign exchange by authorised dealers has slumped, as the dealers were only able to pick $45 million out of the $100 million offered by the CBN on wholesale spot.
Industry experts attributed the slump in demand to the rate of forex liquidity being pumped into the system by the CBN. This was also attributed to the new trend in the general cash crunch in the financial system.
The dollar has also crashed against major currencies since US President Donald Trump’s surprising declaration that China is not manipulating the value of the yuan.
Furthermore, Okorafor said the major injections made by the bank in the course of the week were aimed at providing access to all stakeholders with legitimate need for forex.
“The CBN remains upbeat that the forex market will remain liquid and that Nigerians who genuinely require the forex will get ample access to the currency,” Okorafor noted.
The CBN had this week opened a new window for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These special interventions were in addition to over $500 million offered to dealers in the wholesale and retail segments in the past week.
Okorafor had disclosed that the new window for SMEs provides small scale importers an avenue to source forex to boost their respective business through the importation of eligible finished and semi-finished items at not more than $20,000 per quarter per enterprise.
Lauding the CBN intervention across the various window of the forex market, analysts expressed hope that the trend would be sustained, going by the current level of foreign reserves.
