• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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FX turnover rises 380.3% as CBN injects US$210 into market

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The foreign exchange daily turnover increased significantly by 380.3 percent to US$354.88 million on Tuesday compared to US$73.88 million recorded the previous day at the Investors and Exporters forex (I&E) window.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected the sum of US$210 million into the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

Nigeria’s external reserves have declined to US$42.38 billion as of February 25, 2019, data obtained from the CBN website show.

Figures obtained from the CBN on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, indicated that authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market were offered the sum of $100 million, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million.

Similarly, customers requiring 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’s intervention helped to strengthen the local currency further. Consequently, naira appreciated marginally by N0.04k to close at N361.50k per dollar on Tuesday as against N361.54k traded the previous day at the I&E forex window.

At the CBN’s official window, the nation’s currency remained stable as it closed at the rate of N306.85k per dollar, data from FMDQ revealed.

Confirming the figures, Isaac Okorafor, the CBN’s director, corporate communications department, reiterated the CBN’s commitment to continue to boost interbank foreign exchange market to ensure liquidity in the market.

It will be recalled that on Friday, February 22, 2019, the Bank injected the sum of $268.4 million and CNY46.3 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segment.

Meanwhile, the Naira on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 exchanged at an average of N360/$1 in the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market.

In his personal statement at the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, member of the MPC said exchange rates have been broadly stable during the year 2018. The average rate at the Investor and Exporter (I&E) window, for example, slightly depreciated from N360.53 per USD in January 2018 to N364.76 per USD in December 2018, representing a depreciation of 1.13 per cent.

The exchange rate was even more stable at the BDCs segment where it depreciated by only 0.07 per cent from N363.20 per US dollar in January 2018 to N363.46 in December 2018. External reserves, which have been key to the stability achieved in the foreign exchange market, have also increased from $39.35 billion in December 2017 to $42.54 in December 2018, representing a growth of 8.11 per cent.

 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE