CBN injects $210m in forex market

On Thursday, the Central Bank of Nigeria injected $210 million into the interbank foreign exchange market, wholesale trade and other market sectors.

The figures released on Thursday by the apex bank indicate that the wholesale market received a new injection of $100 million, while small and medium enterprises and invisible sectors each received $55 million.

The Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said that Thursday’s forex interventions, in continuation of the apex bank’s resolve, were aimed at sustaining the high level of stability in the forex market and continually ease access to the currency by customers in the different sectors.

While lauding actors in various sectors of the forex market for the level of stability, in spite of the activities of the speculators, Okorafor assured that the CBN was ready to play its interventionist role in the market.

Recall that the CBN in its last interventions early in December 2018, injected the sum of $299.82m and CNY143.60m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales.

Meanwhile, one $1 exchanged for N360 in the Bureau De Change segment of the market on Thursday, the CBN added.

According to the first half report of the CBN, the regulator stated that it sustained its intervention at the interbank and BDC segments, to engender stability in the foreign exchange market.

It noted that the bank, in agreement with the Banker’s Committee, abolished commission charges on invisible foreign exchange transactions such as Business Travel Allowance, Personal Travel Allowance, medical and school fees.

In the half year report, the CBN also increased the frequency of foreign exchange cash sales to the BDCs from twice to thrice per week, and adjusted the selling rate, downward to N357/$.

To boost liquidity and facilitate trade and investment, the Bank on April 27, 2018, signed a three-year bilateral currency swap agreement with the Peoples Bank of China worth Chinese Yuan CNY15bn — equivalent to N720bn or $2.5bn.