Access Bank Nigeria Plc has renewed commitment to the development of the Nigerian Financial market by bringing together the Central Bank of Nigeria, Exporters, Importers and operators in the Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) sector to understand recent developments in the market.
This is even as the bank has clarified that CBN suspended all, but eight banks on Tuesday from participating in the weekly Foreign Exchange intervention to the SMEs, because such banks refused to sell dollars to customers after buying from the apex bank.
Speaking at the seminar titled ‘The Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market – Paving the Way Towards Restoring Confidence,’ Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank, Mr Herbert Wigwe said the lender has consistently partnered with the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria on the implementation of their strategic initiatives to ensure that sectors of the economy had access to Foreign Exchange based on its financing and execution capabilities.
Specifically, Wigwe said “As a bank, our commitment to the development of the Nigerian Financial Market is unflinching and deeply rooted in our desire to see a liquid, structured, sustainable and well developed market that is global in its reach and conducive for businesses both great and small.
“We also play a pivotal role in the development of the derivatives market in Nigeria, having executed over 25 per cent of the total derivatives traded in the Nigerian financial market in 2016 and continue to push the frontiers of market development offering possibilities.”
According to him, the recent developments in the Foreign Exchange market and the attendant impact on the market and businesses at large, necessitates a forum where all the participants in the Nigerian financial market sit down to understand the direction the market is headed towards and provide clarity on the implications of these policies.
Access Bank’s active role in the development and provision of liquidity in the Nigerian Financial market, according to him is testified to by the Financial Markets Dealers Quotation (FMDQ) which has continuously ranked the bank as number one of the 23 Authorised Dealers, “a position that we currently maintain as at date.
“This seminar has been organised to provide a platform for all our customers to discuss salient issues surrounding the operations and implementation of the new FX market policies and how it will impact on their businesses.”
Group head, Global Markets at Access Bank, Mr Dapo Olagunju observed that the foreign exchange market at present is at the end of dollar scarcity because the CBN has cleared all the backlog of dollar demands and is determined to continue to supply enough liquidity to the market.
According to him, this is why the apex bank has wielded the big stick against erring banks that are blocking the flow of dollars to end users.
Also speaking, Bismarck Rewane Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, said the foreign exchange market in Nigeria is still an imperfect market because there are still differences in the exchange rate of the local currency, with CBN as a dominant supplier.
According to him, the quantity of dollars supplied in Jan- April 2017 is 16.9 per cent higher than January-April 2016 by $5.31 billion, adding that this was possible because of recovery in certain sectors especially as “a sharp increase in our oil revenue estimated at a monthly value of $2.5 billion.”