Forex Inflows Grew by 82.45% in December 2016

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed that Nigeria recorded an increase in the inflow of foreign exchange in December 2016.

The apex bank’s chief made this disclosure on Tuesday while addressing journalists in Abuja.

Speaking at the end of the two-day meeting of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Mr Emefiele said the hike specifically rose by 82.45 percent.

He explained that this surge was mainly as a result of “the increase in oil prices” in the global market sparked by the oil cut deal reached by members of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in November 2016.

“Total foreign exchange inflows through the CBN increased significantly by 82.45 percent in December 2016 owing mainly to the increase in oil prices. Total outflows, however, spiked during the same period,” the CBN Governor told newsmen.

Mr Emefiele further said uding the same period, “the average Naira exchange rate remained stable at the inter-bank segment of the foreign exchange market.”

Also, the CBN boss disclosed that the, “Money market interest rates fluctuated in tandem with the level of liquidity in the banking system. Thus, average interbank call rate, which stood at 15.34 percent on November 21, 2016, closed at 9.90 percent on December 30, 2016.”

He said, “Between these periods, the interbank call rate averaged 13.59 percent. The average interbank call rate however, fell to 3.00 percent on December 9, 2016, due to an increase in net banking sector liquidity to N495.48 billion on December 8, 2016, following the payment of statutory revenue to states and local governments as well as maturity of CBN bills during the period.”