Yemisi Izuora
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has reiterated its determination to sustain liquidity through continuous intervention in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market in order to stabilize the sector.
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the Bank, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, who gave the assurance noted that the measures being taken by the Bank had yielded positive results as far as forex supply was concerned.
While acknowledging a marginal fluctuation in the exchange rate, he noted that the naira remained stable against other major currencies around the world; even as he observed that activities in the foreign exchange market remained dynamic.
According to him, the interventions of the apex Bank were in line with its commitment to sustain liquidity in the market to meet genuine requests as well as deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market.
Okorafor warned speculators against nefarious activities, adding that the CBN had put necessary checks in place to guard against sharp practices in the forex market. While stressing that there was nothing to suggest that the CBN planned to discontinue its forex intervention, he noted there had been accretions in the country’s foreign reserves from $30 Billion to about $32 billion.
Okorafor therefore urged those who genuinely require foreign exchange for their transactions to approach their banks, noting that the banks had enough forex to meet the demands for foreign exchange.
It will be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria has consistently injected funds into in the interbank foreign exchange market, which received a boost of $547 Million in the last round of intervention.