The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made available the sum of $210million, to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the foreign exchange market.
The bank offered $100million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got the sum of $55 million.
According to figures obtained from the bank on Wednesday, customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, during his post-MPC remarks on Tuesday, had said that the country’s foreign reserve stood at $47.79 billion and that pressure on the foreign reserve would be reduced following the recent currency swap deal between the CBN and the Peoples Bank of China.
Also, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Mr. Isaac Okorafor, reiterated the bank’s commitment to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.
Okorafor said the CBN would sustain its strategic management of forex, with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.
Last Friday, the bank intervened to the tune of $293 million to cater for requests in the retail segment of the forex market.
Meanwhile, the Naira continued its stability in the Forex market, exchanging at an average of N363/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on May 23, 2018.
