Having injected $831 million into the interbank Foreign Exchange Market, last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday intervened selling a total sum of $195 million to meet the requests of customers in the various segments of the market even as the value of the naira dipped to N369 to the dollar at the parallel market.
The naira which closed at the weekend stronger at N364 to the dollar depreciated in value at the close of business yesterday.
A breakdown of the intervention at the interbank market showed that the apex bank offered the sum of $100 million to authorized dealers interbank wholesale window, while it allocated the sum of $50 million to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window.
The invisibles segment was allocated the sum of $45 million to meet the needs of those who applied for Forex to settle Business/Personal Travel Allowances, school tuition, and medicals, etc.
Acting Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, who confirmed the intervention also announced a retail option submitted, adding that the results would be released subsequently.
The CBN spokesperson said the apex bank would continue to ensure adherence to its Forex policy by insisting on transparency of all stakeholders to guarantee stability in the market.
It would be recalled that the CBN made two major interventions in the inter-bank Forex market, last week, totaling $831.5 million, just as figures released by the Apex Bank indicated that it had boosted transactions at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) segment of the market to the tune of $2.2 billion.
Also last week, the CBN, in a bid to tackle inflation, unveiled plans to mop up a total of N200.322 billion from the Nigerian banking system through a special Open Market Operation (OMO) at the rate of 16 per cent per annum.
