By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The sum of $210 million was on Monday injected into the foreign exchange (forex) market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The injection was to ensure that the foreign currency market has enough forex to meet demands of genuine customers.
In a statement issued yesterday, the apex bank promised that it will continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.
According to the central bank, $100 million was auctioned to the wholesale market, while both the SMIS and Invisibles sectors received $55 million each.
The CBN at least once a week pumps forex into the interbank market to improve liquidity and alleviate the Dollar shortages at the market.
It began these injections in February 2017, when the Naira was almost hitting N600 to the Dollar at the parallel market.
But since its interventions, the local currency has traded in the region of N360 to N370 to the Dollar at the black market.
In 2016, Nigeria fell into recession as a result of low crude oil prices and destruction of oil installations in the Niger Delta region of the country, which dropped oil production.
Last year, it technically exited recession due to rise in the prices of crude oil in the global market as well as relative peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.