The Nation Newspaper

Tag: dollars

  • Rush for dollar drops as CBN records $19m surplus

    Rush for dollar drops as CBN records $19m surplus

    The demand for dollar by banks is now dropping across the country.

    For the first time since the dollar scarcity started, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday recorded $19 million surplus after it intervened in the interbank market.

    The development occurred after the CBN pumped $100 million into the interbank to meet demands at the retail end of the market, out of which authorised dealers were only able to pick $81.347 million after an initial bid for $91 million.

    Speaking on the offer, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, attributed the inability of authorized dealers to pick up the entire offer to increasing dollar supply and sense of apprehension among dealers who anticipate a further crash in dollar rate.

    He reiterated the apex bank’s determination to sustain its current interventions in the market.

    He said, “Those who doubt the capacity of the bank to sustain the intervention in the forex market are beginning to have a change of mind.”

    Meanwhile, reports gathered in Abuja and Lagos over the week indicate the naira sustained its bullish ride against major currencies, especially the United States dollar, which exchanged at an average of N385 to dollar.

  • Naira sells at N400 to dollar

    Naira sells at N400 to dollar

    The Naira on Thursday was sold at N400 to a dollar at the parallel Market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Nigerian currency gained N10 to close at N400, from N410 posted on Wednesday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N500 and N430 respectively.

    At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira closed at N400, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N530 and N465 respectively.

    Trading at the interbank market saw the Naira weaker at N308.00 from N307.75 recorded on Wednesday.

    Currency traders expressed the hope that the continuous appreciation of the Naira would affect the economy positively.

    Meanwhile, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to loosen its policies on foreign direct inflow and Diaspora remittances as part of efforts at rate convergence.

    ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe said that recent development in the FOREX market had made it important for the CBN to review the rate at which it sells FOREX to BDCs.

    Gwadabe explained that a fair playing ground for all operators at the FOREX market was needed for the CBN to achieve its goal for rate convergence at the market. (NAN)

  • Naira gains N20 against dollar

    Naira gains N20 against dollar

    The naira appreciated significantly against the dollar on Wednesday to trade at N410 to the dollar, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The local currency gained 20 naira to exchange at N410 to the dollar from N430 posted on Tuesday.

    It also firmed against the pound sterling and the Euro as it was traded at N510 to the pound and 435 to the Euro from N530 and N450, respectively.

    At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the naira was sold at N400 to the dollar, while it closed to the pound sterling and the Euro at N530 and N465, respectively.

    Transactions at the interbank market saw the naira closed at N307.75 to the dollar.

    Traders expressed mix-feelings over the development in the market on Wednesday.

    Mr Yahya Mohammed, a trader, said the new development had raised his optimism that naira could sell for N350 against the dollar tomorrow.

    Meanwhile, the new development has put the BDC sub-sector into a very tight corner as some of their clients were no longer comfortable with the prevalent rate.
    Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON), said BDCs were facing increasing resistance from their clients.
    “Some of them insist they can only patronise us at N375 to a dollar,’’ Gwadabe said.

  • Naira continues to appreciate against dollar

    Naira continues to appreciate against dollar

    The Naira has continued to appreciate against the dollar at the parallel market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Nigerian currency on Tuesday afternoon traded at N420 (buying rate) and N430 (selling rate), while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N530 and N450 respectively.

    Trading on the floor of the Bureau De Change (BDC) showed that the Naira closed at N400 to a dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N545 and N480 respectively.

    The Naira remained stable at the interbank market, exchanging at N307.50 to a dollar.

    Traders at the market said that they were happy with the performance of the Naira at the market, adding that it would lead to the fall in the prices of goods and services nationwide.

    Meanwhile, Mr Emefiele Godwin, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the bank was optimistic to see the further convergence of the official and parallel market rates.

    Emefiele said this, while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the two- day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the CBN in Abuja.

    “We are determined to see a greater convergence of the official and parallel market rates,’’ Emefiele said.

    NAN reports that the CBN retained the lending rate at 14 per cent and other monetary policy parameters.

    The CBN has recorded huge success at the FOREX market since it started injecting over 1.5 billion dollars at the interbank market.

    The Naira has continued to firm against the dollar in defiance of predictions by some experts that it would sink to N1,000 to a dollar by the second quota of the year. (NAN)

  • Naira to appreciate further as CBN boosts forex sale

    Naira to appreciate further as CBN boosts forex sale

    The Naira is set to appreciate further in the week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to inject more Foreign Exchange (Forex) into the market to meet the requests of genuine customers.

    The spokesman of CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, gave the assurance in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex bank had so far kept to its promise of continuing to supply enough forex to guarantee liquidity in the market.

    The statement said the bank was committed to ensuring that authorised dealers got sufficient supply to meet the demands of authentic customers of banks.

    It disclosed that the bank had since February offered over one billion dollars to the interbank market.

    The bank expressed optimism that stability had been restored to the forex market.

    According to the statement, individuals can easily access forex to address personal and business allowances.

    NAN reports that a summary of the CBN intervention in the interbank market over the past two months, shows the highest bid rate was N360 per dollars, while the lowest was N315 per dollar. (NAN)

  • Naira consolidates gain against dollar

    Naira consolidates gain against dollar

    The Naira on Thursday consolidated its gains against the dollar at the parallel market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Nigerian currency gained two points to exchange at N455 to a dollar, from N457 it posted on Wednesday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N550 and N480, respectively.

    At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira traded at N400 to a dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N550 and N487, respectively.

    Trading at the interbank segment of the market saw the Naira closing at N306.75 to a dollar.

    Currency traders said that the boost in liquidity by the CBN had enabled the Naira to sustain its gain against the dollar at the FOREX market.

    NAN reports that the CBN had sustained its intervention at the market to clear the backlog of genuine FOREX buyers. (NAN)

  • Forex: Banks seek buyers as CBN continues to flood market

    Forex: Banks seek buyers as CBN continues to flood market

    The new strategy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to meet all legal demand for foreign exchange (Forex) has led Money Deposit Banks to contend with expending all the dollars in their possession.

    A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja showed that the banks had cleared all backlog of demands for foreign currencies for basic travel allowance, school fees and medicals.

    A source in the United Bank for Africa, told NAN that UBA had so much dollars that the bank’s marketers had been asked to encourage customers to request for foreign currencies.

    The source said that the bank wanted to avoid a situation where it was forced to return excess Forex to the CBN.

    It explained that doing so would force the CBN to reduce the quantity of Forex it sold to banks.

    Another source from First Bank said following the CBN intervention, the bank had succeeded in clearing all pending requests for Forex as far back as September, 2016.

    Also, a source in Guaranty Trust Bank commended the decision of the CBN to flood the market with Forex, thereby allowing the banks to meet legitimate demands from its customers.

    It was also gathered from Heritage Bank that prior to now, the bank published the names of individuals and companies it disbursed Forex to in a page of any particular newspaper.

    “Right now, we take two or three pages in the newspaper to publish names of legitimate individuals and companies that we disbursed Forex to.

    “We have more than enough foreign exchange to meet the request of our customers for school fees and others,” s0NAN was told.

    In a data released by the CBN, the apex bank, within three weeks, injected more than 1.4 billion dollars for both wholesale and retail intervention into the interbank Forex market. (NAN)

  • Forex: CBN to inject more funds

    Forex: CBN to inject more funds

    There are strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is unrelenting in its move to ensure liquidity in the interbank foreign exchange (Forex) market, as it will inject more funds into market this week.

    This is according to information gathered by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja from market operators.

    Confirming the proposed additional foreign exchange injection into the system, the acting Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor said the CBN was determined to sustain the provision of liquidity in the Forex market.

    Okorafor cautioned dealers in foreign exchange not to engage in any unwholesome practice that could be detrimental to the smooth operations in the market.

    He also warned that the CBN would impose heavy sanctions on any organisation involved in such acts.

    The CBN had, as at last week, injected over 1.4billion dollars into the interbank Forex market for both wholesale and retail interventions. (NAN)

  • Forex: CBN pumps additional $100m into market

    Forex: CBN pumps additional $100m into market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday injected another sum of 100 million dollars into the interbank foreign exchange market, its acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor has said.

    Okorafor said the measure became necessary as part of the initiatives to make Forex easily accessible, thereby crashing demand at the black market.

    The director made this known to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He said that the measure was to fund the commercial banks with enough Forex to cater for the request of customers and to meet basic travelling allowance, medicals and tuition fees.

    This fresh injection by the apex bank brings the amount so far pumped into the interbank Forex market within the last two weeks to 1.14 billion dollars for both forwards and invisibles.

    A former Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Ode Ojowu said the measure would further create problems for currency speculators who had not recover from the sudden appreciation of the Naira.

    “It appears this time around, the CBN has decided to become smarter than the market manipulators by putting on its cap of authority to look beneath the market forces,” he said.

    Ojowu also commended the efforts of the CBN in ensuring the continuous appreciation of the Naira.

    He attributed this to good policy and effective communication strategy, which had increased dollar supply to the market. (NAN)

  • Dollar crashes again at parallel market

    Dollar crashes again at parallel market

    The greenback on Monday crashed against the Naira, as the Nigerian currency gained five points at the parallel market.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Naira traded at N460 to a dollar, after speculators had forced it 3 points down amid liquidity boost on Friday.
    However, the Naira weakened against the Pound Sterling but maintained its Euro rate as it traded at N560 and N480, respectively.
    At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira was sold at N399 to a dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N580 and N525, respectively.
    The Nigerian currency also traded at N305.50 at the interbank window.
    In other segments of the market, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Travelex, an International Money Transfer Services Operator, sold the Naira at N370 to a dollar.
    Traders expressed the hope that the strengthening of the Naira would reposition the economy for greater productivity.
    They, however, appealed to the CBN to sustain the liquidity boost in the market so that the Naira could sustain its gains against the dollar.
    NAN reports that some Nigerians, however, expressed worry that the gains of the Naira against the dollar had not translated in the reduction in the prices of goods and services. (NAN)