CBN injects $4.37bn in 3 months in Forex market to defends Naira

As part of efforts to ensure the stability of the Naira, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed in its third-quarter economic report that it injected $4.37 billion into the foreign exchange market in the third quarter of 2020.

The Apex bank said through its periodic interventions in the forex market, it continued to boost the supply side of the market, as COVID-19 crisis weakened the private sector supply chain segment of the market.

The report read in part, “During the third quarter of 2020, total foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers by the bank amounted to $4.37 billion, a decline of 2.3 percent from the level in the preceding quarter.

“This was attributed largely to the decrease in wholesale forward intervention and interbank sales. The total foreign exchange sales represented a decrease of 56.4 per cent, compared with the corresponding quarter of 2019.

“Further disaggregation showed that matured swap transactions and SMIS intervention rose by 50.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent to $1.24 billion and $1.96bn, from the levels in the preceding quarter.”