The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) addressed the needs of end-users in the inter-bank market and the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), by injecting a total of $494.2m and CNY36m (Chinese Yuan) into foreign exchange market in one week.

A breakdown of the intervention shows that in the latest round of mediation in the inter-bank foreign exchange market, the CBN injected the sum of $284.2 million in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS). This is in addition to CNY36.0 million in the spot nd short-tenured forwards CBN supplies $494.2m, CNY36m into forex market in one week segment of the inter-bank foreign market.

The United States dollars denominated transactions were to meet requests in the agricultural and raw materials sectors, while those in Chinese Yuan were for Renminbi-denominated Letters of Credit.

The forex intervention has helped to shore up the dollar liquidity as well as contributed to maintaining stability in the market, analysts opined. Consequently, a dollar exchanged for N357 on the selling side (Bureau De Change) while it remained at N360 on the buying side (customers).

Related News

However, naira depreciated by marginally 0.02 percent to close at N361.97k per dollar on Friday compared to N361.91k/$ traded the previous day, data from FMDQ indicated.

Also within last week, precisely on Tuesday, July 23, 2019, the CBN intervened in the inter-bank sector of the foreign exchange market with the sum of $210 million. In this forex auction, authorized dealers in the wholesale sector of the market received $100 million, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the Invisibles segments were allocated the sum of $55 million each.

Isaac Okorafor, director, corporate communications department, said the Bank’s management remained particularly pleased with the prevailing stability in the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

More from our Markets Column
Read Next
Lower borrowing cost boosts Flour Mills’ Q1 profit by most in 4 years

Lower borrowing cost boosts Flour Mills’ Q1 profit by most in 4 years

By Segun Adams • July 29, 2019

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date

Open In Whatsapp