CBN boosts Forex market with $210m

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday announced the injection of another $210 million to boost liquidity in the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

Disclosing this in Abuja, Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor said $100million of the amount was offered to the wholesale segment, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got an allocation of $55 million.

The invisible segment (i.e. tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others) was also allocated $55 million.

Okorafor said the releases were part of an effort aimed at boosting liquidity in the forex market, facilitating trade and easing remittances for legitimate personal commitments.

While attributing the long spell of calm in the market to the interventions of the CBN and the cooperation of all stakeholders, Okorafor said the convergence of rates between the interbank market and the Bureau de Change segments, had all but converged with customers able to buy forex from either market at not more than N362 to a dollar.

In spite of the development, he stressed that the CBN would continue in its monitoring of the market in order to ensure that authorised dealers abide by the extant rules.

Meanwhile, naira maintained its steady rate against the United States Dollar, exchanging for N361/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Tuesday.