CBN: With $30bn Reserves, We’ve Enough Firepower for Interbank FX Market

Chineme Okafor in Abuja

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday stated that it is already making some headway in its adopted foreign exchange policy, and that with over $30 billion foreign exchange (forex) reserves in its coffers, it now has enough financial firepower to continue to intervene in the country’s interbank forex market.

The CBN on Tuesday carried out special wholesale intervention forward sales in the interbank forex market by offering $500 million to keep up with its promise of easing the difficulties encountered by Nigerians in obtaining funds for forex transactions.

The bank on Monday equally sold $80 million among other forex sales to banks to meet the demands of their customers who had applied for forex for school fees, medicals, and personal and business travel allowances, and had between Monday and Tuesday, sold $491.8 million to commercial banks and authorised dealers in the market through its special wholesale intervention forward sales.

But speaking on the bank’s forex intervention in an early morning interview on Arise Television network, a sister company of THISDAY in Abuja, CBN’s Director of Financial Market, Mr. Emmanuel Ukeje, said the bank was almost done with its adjustments in the interbank forex market, and would now intervene promptly.

Details later…