Abuja, March 29, 2024 – Nigeria recorded over $1.5bn inflow of foreign exchange in the past few days, a development which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said its monetary policy efforts were working.
Sidi Hakama Ali, the bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, said the data available to the bank indicated that the inflows resulted from a concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
According to her, the naira has also continued to record gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market as it traded at N1,309/$1 as against N1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.
Hakama Alli said Thursday’s rate signified that the naira was headed in the right direction and assured that the Yemi Cardoso-led CBN remained committed to ensuring the stability of the market, and the appropriate pricing of the naira against other major currencies worldwide.
The development comes on the heels of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement of a two percent increase in its benchmark rate from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent on March 26, 2024.
During his post-meeting briefing, Cardoso also reiterated that the CBN had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlog, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the foreign exchange market.
The apex bank conducted the Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) auction of N1.64 trillion rn on March 27, 2024 at stop rates of 16.24 per cent, 17 per cent, and 21.124 per cent for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively. (GBN)
