From Uche Usim, Abuja
In line with naira sustenance programme, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday pumped $254.3 million into the retail segment of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market. Information obtained from the CBN, yesterday, indicated that the deals in the retail window represent requests from the various sectors in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), thereby providing a boost to the respective sectors.
The acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the forex sales, explained that the sale was in response to bids received from authorised dealers, on behalf of their customers, at the retail auction announced by the CBN on Wednesday, July 5, 2017.
He disclosed that the $254.3m sold was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industry. He recalled that the Bank, at its last intervention in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) on June 23, 2017, injected a total of $240 million for spot and forward deals, just as it intervened with the total sum of $390 million in the wholesale, SMEs and invisibles segments of the market on June 28 and July 3, 2017.
Speaking further, Okorafor said the CBN remained very committed to ensuring that all the sectors continue to enjoy access to the foreign exchange required for their business concerns.
Meanwhile, the naira, yesterday, exchanged at an average of N364/$1 in the Bureau de Change segment (BDCs) across major trading points in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano.