Yemisi Izuora
Following its injection of $280 million into the Foreign Exchange Market on Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has again carried out spot, wholesale interventions in the interbank FOREX market by offering a total sum of $100m to authorized dealers to meet the 7 to 15-day forwards requests of customers.
The latest intervention was confirmed by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, who, further disclosed that the banks and authorized dealers were only able to pick up $68.51 million.
Okorafor attributed the inability of the authorized dealers to fully subscribe to the CBN to a surfeit of forex in the system, which may lead to further appreciation of the naira.
He also disclosed that the CBN will on Thursday, April 20, 2017 continue its sale of $20,000 to Bureax de Change (BDCs) for onward sale to small-end users.
According to him, the trend monitored by the Bank indicated that deposit money banks are now able to meet the forex demands of their customers within the time frame stipulated by the CBN.
Speaking further, Okorafor said feedback on the Bank’s forex new window for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country revealed that majority of the small importers were heading for a major boost in their activities.
This he said was responsible for the current appreciation of the Naira, stressing that the Naira will continue to gain strength with the relentless efforts of the CBN to to supply the market with forex.
The spokesman also reiterated the determination of the CBN to continue to intervene in the various sectors of the interbank forex market in order to guarantee access to all categories of customers requiring forex for legitimate obligations and ultimately ensure stability in the forex market.