CBN supplies $210m to forex market as BDCs get $85m allocation

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Wednesday injected a total of $210 million into the foreign exchange market.
A breakdown of the dollar supply indicated that it offered the sum of $100 million to the wholesale segment, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received $55 million. Similarly, the invisibles segment, comprising tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, also received a $55 million boost.

The Bureau De Change operators numbering 4,250 across the country received about $85 million as part of their weekly allocation.
Consequently, naira traded stable at the BDC segment of the foreign exchange market, closing at N360 per dollar.
Isaac Okorafor, director, corporate communications at the CBN, while confirming the figures, said the CBN was pleased with the state of the forex market, adding that the bank would continue to intervene in order to sustain the liquidity in the market and guarantee the international value of the naira.

He said the bank was determined to achieve its objective of exchange rate stability, thus the continued injection in the foreign exchange market. According to Okorafor, the level of transparency in the market was also a confidence boost.
It would be recalled that the CBN in its last intervention window on November 16, injected $318.03 million and CNY62.18 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
Meanwhile, the naira continued to maintain its stability in the forex market, exchanging at an average of N361/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Wednesday.

“Exchange rate is still stable. There is no major disruption,” Aminu Gwadabe, president, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), told BusinessDay last night.
He said with the interventions of the CBN and the efforts of the association at ensuring members sell at the stipulated price, exchange rate would remain stable.
The nation’s currency on Wednesday depreciated against the dollar by 0.16 percent to close at N364.26k per dollar compared to N363.69k/$ traded on Monday at the investors and exporters forex window.

The foreign exchange and money market resumed on Wednesday after the one-day holiday declared by the Federal Government to mark the Muslim festival.
Exchange rate was stable at the CBN official window at N306.75k/$ and at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) at N363.41k per dollar, data from FMDQ revealed.
In the first half of 2018, the CBN continued with its direct intervention in the interbank foreign exchange market to cushion demand pressures and ensure exchange rate stability.

Consequently, a total of $9,499.91 million was sold at the foreign exchange market. This comprised $1,546.43 million at the inter-bank spot, US$768.70 million for invisibles, $637.00 million for SMEs, $1,236.69 million at the I&E window, while forwards sales were $5,311.09 million.
On the other hand, the Bank purchased $6,436.47 million at the inter-bank market, which resulted in a net sale of $3,063.44 million by the Bank. The sum of $5,681.76 million matured at the forwards segment, while $1,469.04 million was outstanding at the end of June 2018.