CBN Pumps $482.6m into Forex Market

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

As part of its efforts at boosting Dollar liquidity in the foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected another $482.6 million into the market.

The apex bank released the money on Tuesday and shared it among four major forex segments it created; retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), wholesale SMIS, invisibles, and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, explained that the release of the latest intervention was in line with the bank’s determination to ease off pressure on the local currency, which is hovering around N380 to the Dollar.

A breakdown of the latest CBN intervention showed that Retail SMIS was allotted about $285.8 million, while the wholesale SMIS got $100 million.

Also, $45 million was shared for the invisibles, comprising tuition and medical fees, Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) among others, while the SME segment received $52 million.