Yemisi Izuora
Customers in the retail segment of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market received a $318.73m boost from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, June 29, 2018.
Information obtained from the CBN on Friday indicates that the deals in the retail window represent requests from the various sectors in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), thereby providing a boost to the respective sectors.
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the forex sales, explained that $318.73m sold was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industries.
It will be recalled that last Tuesday, June 26, 2018, the CBN had intervened to the tune of $210 million to cater for requests in the wholesale segment of the forex market.
Speaking further, Okorafor said the CBN remained very committed to ensuring that all the sectors continue to enjoy access to the foreign exchange required for their business concerns.
Meanwhile, the naira, on Friday, June 29, 2018, exchanged at an average of N360/$1 in the Bureau de Change segment (BDCs) across major trading points in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano.