The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday sustained its intervention in the foreign exchange (forex) market with the sum of $210 million so as to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.
A breakdown of the intervention showed that the central bank offered $100 million to authorised 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, customers needing forex for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.
The CBN recently approved an upward review of the trading margin available to operators of Bureau De Change (BDC) in the country, allowing BDC operators to buy the greenback from the CBN at N357/$1 and sell at N360, thereby leaving them with a positive margin of N3 per dollar sold.
Meanwhile, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Mr. Isaac Okorafor yesterday 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 had last week intervened to the tune of $210 million to cater for requests in the wholesale segment of the market.
The naira continued its stability, exchanging at an average of N362/$1 in the BDC segment of the market.
