Naira strengthens as CBN injects $457.3m into FX market

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday injected the sum of $457.3 million into various segments of the market.

A breakdown of the offer from the CBN shows that both spot and forwards got the sum of $267.3 million while the wholesale segment got $100 million.

Also, the SME and invisibles segments comprising of basic travel allowance, tuition fee and medical got and $50 million and $40 million respectively.

With the injection, the naira firmed at the parallel market checks by our correspondent show.

Price checks yesterday at the parallel market in Abuja showed that the dollar was sold for N385 and bought at N382 yesterday. On Monday it was sold for N384/1$ and bought at N382/$1.

The naira for about a week has been selling within the band of N381 to N383 to the dollar at the parallel market, checks by our correspondent show.

A check on the volume of trading on the Investors and Exporters foreign exchange window in the past three weeks on the FMDQ platform revealed that the sum of $600 million has for been sold by both the CBN and autonomous sources.

When contacted for comments on the developments in the market, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Isaac Okorafor, expressed satisfaction with the level of activities in the market.

While confirming the sales figure for the day, Mr. Okorafor singled out the Investors and Exporters segment noting that the volume of activities is an indicative of the fact that investors are being attracted to the financial market and the economy in general.