Economy
CBN Sets Up Investors, Exporters Forex Window
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A special window for investors, exporters and end-users to easily access the foreign exchange market has been established by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This, the apex bank explains, is aimed at deepening the forex market and accommodates all forex obligations.
The CBN further said the purpose of this window is to “boost liquidity in the forex market and ensure timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions.”
Under the new regime, transactions allowed are all invisibles, excluding international airlines ticket sales’ remittances; loan repayments; loan interest payments; dividends/income remittances; capital repatriation; and management services fees.
Others are consultancy fees, software subscription fees, technology transfer agreements, personal home remittances and any such other eligible invisible transactions including ‘miscellaneous payments’ as detailed under Memorandum 15 of the CBN Foreign Exchange Manual.
According to the CBN, the supply of foreign currency to the “window shall be through portfolio investors, exporters, authorised dealers and other parties with foreign currency to exchange to Naira.
“The CBN shall also be a market participant at this Window to promote liquidity and professional market conduct.”
The apex bank explained that due to the slow progress made by corporates in on-boarding the FMDQ Thomson Reuters FX Trading & Auction Systems, participants at this window shall trade via telephone until appreciable progress is made with the FX Trading Systems On-boarding process.
“Authorised Dealers are therefore advised to promote market transparency by encouraging their corporate clients to on-board to ensure the activities of the Window are operated on the FX Trading Systems.
“Participants are advised to ensure that all trade conversations are recorded and auditable.
“Consequently, to provide price discovery to the market, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ) shall be charged with polling buying and selling rates and other relevant information from the major participants in the market to provide participants with the requisite price discovery, and the CBN with the indicative market depth until the market migrates to the FX Trading Systems.
“Therefore, FMDQ shall publish on its website (wvw.fmdqotc.com) market rates and any other relevant information twice daily (Indicative Opening Mid-Rate at 9am and Indicative Closing Mid-Rate at 4am),” the bankers’ bank said in a statement on Friday and signed by the Director of Financial Markets Department, Mr Alvan Ikoku.
It stressed that the exchange rates of the transactions in the window shall be as agreed between authorised dealers and their counterparties (i.e. willing buyer and willing seller basis).
“The CBN reserves the right to intervene as a buyer or seller, as it deems fit, in the Window.
“Authorised Dealers may hold positions subject to their respective Foreign Currency Trading Position Limits (FCTPL).
“Authorised Dealers shall not exceed their respective FCTPL without the approval of the CBN. Compliance with the FCTPL shall be strictly monitored by the CBN.
“Where an Authorised Dealer has a foreign currency trading position in excess of its limit, it is expected that such excess shall be defeased during trading hours. The Authorised Dealer shall offer the funds to the CBN or to another Authorised Dealer but with the prior express approval of the CBN.
“Where such funds are sold to other Authorised Dealers, the purchased funds shall only be sold by the buying Authorised Dealer to its customers. An attestation of this compliance must be provided by the buying Authorised Dealer to the selling Authorised Dealer.
“The funds purchased cannot be held in position overnight by the buying Authorised Dealer or sold to another Authorised Dealer.
“Information on transactions between Authorised Dealers shall be reported to the CBN on a daily basis,” the CBN said further.
It added that, “Authorised Dealers shall render daily returns (hard and soft copy, in a format to be communicated by the CBN) of all transactions in this market to the Directors, Financial Markets and Banking Supervision Departments, Central Bank of Nigeria.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.
According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.
On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.
It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.
The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.
The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.
The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.
Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.
An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.
Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.
Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.
This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
The UAE could quickly add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.
The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.
Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.
The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.
President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.
The Idemitsu Maru, a Panama-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.
Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
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