US dollars
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected 210 million dollars into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market to ensure availability and meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.
Giving a breakdown of the amount, the acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said in Abuja on Monday that the wholesale segment of the market received 100 million dollars, while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received 55 million dollars.
Okorafor said customers requiring foreign exchange for tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) among others, were also allocated 55 million dollars. But investigations by Political Economist showed that banks are still denying their clients BTA, claiming lack of forex to execute such transaction.
He reassured the public that the bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market in line with its quest to sustain liquidity and maintain stability.
He said that the steps taken so far by the apex bank in the management of foreign exchange market had paid off, as reflected by reduction in the country’s import bills and accretion to its foreign reserves.
Meanwhile, the Naira continued its stability in the foreign exchange market, exchanging at an average of N360 to a dollar in the Bureau de Change segment of the market.
