18th April, 2017
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday accentuated its determination to sustain liquidity in the foreign exchange market with the injection of $280 million into various sectors of the market and the commencement of its weekly $20,000 sale to licensed Bureaux de Change.
It also further announced the opening of bids for offering $100m wholesale 7-45 days forwards through the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
A breakdown of the intervention shows that invisibles, such as Basic Travel Allowance, Personal Travel Allowance, medical bills and tuition received $80 million, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window received $100 million. In addition to the wholesale bid auction the Bank sold $280 million into the market.
CBN’s spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the releases, disclosing that the new window for SMEs would no doubt boost the business of SMEs through the importation of eligible finished and semi-finished items, thereby boosting FOREX supply to the retail business segment of the market.
Okorafor further explained that the CBN introduced the use of FORM Q for the SMEs, which required just basic documentation, to ease their documentation challenges usually encountered by this category of businesses.
He reiterated that SMEs are allowed to purchase $20,000 per quarter on this arrangement.
On the sale of FOREX to BDCs, the bank said the decision was taken to ensure that the high volume demands by low-end users are met promptly.