CBN Injects Another $418m To Support Naira

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected another 418 million dollars into the various segments of the inter-bank foreign exchange market to support the Naira.

In a statement issued by the apex bank in Abuja on Tuesday, it said that the move would give a further lift to the value of Naira in the foreign exchange market.

According to the CBN, the retail segment of the market received the highest intervention with a total of 226 million dollars, followed by the wholesale window that received an allocation of 100million dollars.

The CBN noted that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window received a boost of 50 million dollars while the Business/Personal Travel Allowances, school tuition, medicals, etc. got the sum of 42 million dollars to meet the demands of customers.

The Bank’s spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, also disclosed that the volume of currency trading in the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window had cumulatively hit heights of 2.2 billion dollars.

This, he said happened since the CBN introduced the idea to boost liquidity in the forex market since  April 21, 2017,  and ensure timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions.

He expressed confidence that the interventions will continue to guarantee stability in the market and ensure availability to individuals and business concerns.

It will be recalled that the CBN on Monday, June 12, 2017, injected the sum of 413.5 million dollars into the inter-bank market in its unrelenting bid to guarantee liquidity in the market as well as shore up the international value of the naira.

A breakdown of Monday’s figures shows that the apex Bank allocated the sum of 100 million dollars to authorised dealers in the wholesale window, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window was allocated a total of 28 million dollars.

The invisible segment was allocated the sum of 25.5 million dollars to meet the needs of customers in that sector.

Analysts see the increase in the volume of transactions in the Investors’& Exporters’ (I&E) segment as a positive sign of the return of confidence in the financial markets as clearly demonstrated by the activities in the stock market.