Determined to ease the foreign exchange pressure on Nigerians seeking to carry out international transactions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will this weekend pump another $350 million into the interbank forex market, through its special wholesale intervention forward sales.
Sources in the interbank window confirmed that the move by the CBN was to ensure foreign exchange liquidity and guarantee access to the United States dollar.
According to the source who did not want his name in print, there was currently a liquidity glut in the market, as banks were now sending their marketing officers to scout for customers that genuinely require foreign exchange for the purposes identified for intervention.
The source further said that the banks were eager to dispose the forex sold to them by the CBN in order not to suffer losses that may arise from further appreciation of the naira.
“There is also palpable fear in the market that the continued offloading of dollar cash by those who have been hoarding the currency would further lead to naira appreciation”, he added.
Confirming the intervention by the CBN, its spokesman and acting director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor said the CBN was committed to easing the pressure on Nigerians who genuinely require forex to meet personal commitments.
Mr. Okorafor disclosed that reports monitored on a daily basis at the bank indicated that the bold move by the apex bank was having the desired impact in the interbank foreign exchange market, even as he expressed optimism that the trend would be sustained for the benefit of all Nigerians.
LEADERSHIP Weekend recalls that the CBN, in the past two weeks, has injected over $500million into the foreign exchange market through a special wholesale intervention forward sales intervention in order to create liquidity in the sector.