Economy

Naira Steadies As CBN Injects $462m Into Foreign Exchange Market

Published

7 years ago

July 29, 2017

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday injected $462,336,426.74 million into the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, barely days after it intervened with 194 million dollars.

Mr Isaac Okorafor, Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, CBN made this known in a statement in Abuja.

He said the intervention was in line with the commitment of the apex bank to sustain and deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market to further enhance foreign exchange flow in the economy.

A breakdown of the forex intervention figures obtained from the bank indicated that the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) received the largest allocation of $267,336,426.74.

The CBN also offered $100,000,000 as wholesale interventions, while $50,000,000 was allocated to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) forex window.

Those requiring foreign exchange for Business/Personal Travel Allowances, tuition and medical fees, among others, got a total allocation of $45,000,000.

With yesterday’s forex supply, the total intervention made by the CBN for the week came to $657,336,426.74.

The CBN spokesman said: “the leadership of the CBN is impressed by the positive impact its current foreign exchange management is having on the manufacturing sector, agriculture and economic activities in general across the country.”

Okorafor expressed optimism that the Bank’s intervention, coupled with complementary fiscal efforts, would restore the economy to the path of growth.

Meanwhile, the naira maintained its steady rate against major currencies around the globe, appreciating to N360 to the dollar in the BDC segment of the market on Friday.