The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday injected $205 million into the foreign exchange market even as the naira depreciated to N379 per dollar in the parallel market.
Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor confirmed the dollar injection in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, “The CBN again injected over $205 million into the foreign exchange market. “A breakdown of what market watchers termed as another massive intervention indicated that the sum of $100 million was released for the wholesale segment of the market for both spots and forwards.
“Also, Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) which comes under invisibles segment garnered $50 million while the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) segment got $55 million. Okoroafor also disclosed that the Investors and Exporters segment of the market had so far recorded a trade volume in the sum of $1.1 billion from both the CBN and autonomous windows which according to him, was an indication of the appreciable level of confidence in the foreign exchange management by foreign investors and autonomous suppliers of foreign exchange to the market.”
Meanwhile the naira depreciated by N4 against the dollar in the parallel market yesterday. Vanguard survey revealed that the parallel market exchange rate rose to N379 per dollar at the close of business yesterday from N375 per dollar on Friday.
President Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe confirmed this development. He said the depreciation was caused by sudden increase in demand for dollar between Saturday and yesterday. He however expressed optimism that the naira will appreciate today as the CBN is expected to sell $20,000 to each of the 3145 bureaux de change (BDC) today.
