In a bid to halt the naira’s free fall, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected $148 million into the foreign exchange market.
The intervention, which took place on July 22 and 23, 2024, involved 29 authorized dealers and was aimed at promoting market stability and reducing volatility.
Despite previous efforts, including the sale of $122.67 million to 46 authorized dealers two weeks ago and the announcement of $20,000 sales to BDCs at N1,450/$1, the naira has continued to depreciate, trading above N1,600 at the official market on Thursday.
The CBN’s latest move involves the sale of foreign exchange to authorized dealer banks at an exchange rate of N1470.00/$1-N1510.00/$1. This intervention is part of the apex bank’s efforts to stabilize the foreign exchange market and restore confidence in the naira.
The CBN’s statement read: “The Central Bank of Nigeria sold a cumulative sum of US$148,000,000.00 in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange market to authorized dealers on July 22 and 23, 2024. The sale of foreign exchange was to 29 authorized dealer banks at an exchange rate of 1470.00/US$1-1510.00/US$1.”
