The Nation Newspaper

Tag: forex

  • Forex: CBN boosts liquidity with $195m

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday injected $195 million into the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market.

    Figures obtained from the bank indicate that the CBN offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $50 million.

    Those requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were allocated the sum of $45 million.

    CBN’s Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures. He said the bank was confident that the level of transparency it had entrenched in the market would help the naira sustain its steady run against the dollar and other major currencies around the world.

  • Man gets N5m bail for forex ‘fraud’

    An Igbosere Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, has granted a 45-year-old man, Ighomrore Raymond, N5million bail following his arraignment for an alleged $388,372,29,000 (about N139,814,204) foreign exchange scam.

    Raymond, of Enodobi Street Ipaja, Ayobo, Lagos, was accused of absconding after obtaining $388,372,29,000 from a bureau de change operator under pretence that he was going to give him the naira equivalent.

    He is standing trial before Mrs A. A. Adetunji on a three-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining, and stealing preferred against him by the police.

    Prosecuting Inspector Francis Igbinosa said Raymond committed the alleged offence at about 2:30pm, last September 4, at Airport Road Ikeja Lagos.

    He alleged that the defendant and his accomplice at large conspired to obtain the said money.

    Raymond was accused of “fraudulently and dishonestly obtaining the sum from the complainant, Alhaji Nurudeen Abdulahi, but never paid the naira equivalent.

    Raymond pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate Adetunji admitted him to N5million bail, with two sureties in the like sum.

    She adjourned till November 2.

  • Forex: Playing by the rules

    Forex: Playing by the rules

    The improvement in the supply of foreign exchange to the domestic economy demands that banks and other stakeholders comply with set rules. The improvement in inflation figures, even though pundits believe that the September figure will rise, and the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window turnover of $11.3 billion, are indicators of the economy’s health. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to sanction lenders flouting forex rules to ensure that the success is sustained, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

    As long as Nigeria’s economy remains import-driven, the demand for foreign exchange (forex) will continue to increase substantially.

    Both manufacturers and other end-users always find one reason or the other to demand for forex, including payment for production, raw materials, school fees or even medical fees abroad. All these run into billions of dollars weekly, hence the need to ensure that only genuine forex demands are met.

    This has prompted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to issue operational guidelines for banks and sanction those violating the rules.

    That explains why commercial banks were last week hit with allegations of not keeping to the rules guiding their forex transactions.

    CBN Director, Banking Supervision, Ahmad Abdullahi, threatened to sanction any Deposit Money Bank (DMB) in breach of the apex bank’s directive of March 3, instructing them to, among other things, open teller points for retail forex transactions and have electronic display boards in all their branches, showing rates of all trading currencies.

    While noting that the objective was aimed at creating awareness among members of the public regarding the availability of such facilities in branches of banks at clearly disclosed prices, the CBN frowned as the banks are not fully complying with its directives.

    A circular issued by the apex bank warned that the CBN would apply stiff regulatory sanctions to banks that fail to comply fully with the earlier directive by October 13, 2017.

    The CBN had directed banks and authorised dealers to open a teller point for retail forex transactions involving Personal Travel Allowance/Business Travel Allowance and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Such facilities would make it easy for their customers and other forex users to buy and sell forex in all locations and ensure access to foreign exchange without any hindrance.

    The CBN had also directed commercial banks to have electronic display boards in all their branches, showing rates of all trading currencies, which it urged customers to insist on in processing their forex transactions for invisibles and the SMEs window.

    “The CBN has given the erring banks a four-week period, expiring on October 13, 2017, to fully comply with its directives or face regulatory sanctions, which include but not limited to being barred from all future CBN foreign exchange interventions,” the bank said.

    The apex bank also said it will sustain forex interventions in the various sectors of the inter-bank foreign exchange market with the injection of $545 million.

    Giving a breakdown of the bank’s latest forex injection, its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) received the largest intervention of $285 million.

    Other components of the released figures include the $100 million offered for wholesale SMIS, $90 million for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window and $70 million for invisibles such as Basic Travel Allowances, tuition fees and medical payments.

    According to Okorafor, the amount released underscored the CBN’s avowed commitment to ensure a liquid interbank foreign exchange market, where all genuine requests will be met in line with extant forex guidelines.

    Speaking further, the CBN spokesperson expressed optimism that, with the accretion to the nation’s foreign reserve, the Bank would continue to fulfil its mandate of safeguarding the international value of the legal tender. He further disclosed that the Bank’s management also remained optimistic about achieving a convergence between the forex rates at both the inter-bank and BDC segments.

    This was not the first warning to lenders over breach of forex rules. In August 2016, CBN Acting Director, Trade & Exchange, W.D. Gotring, in a circular to authorised dealers titled: Re: Transactions in ‘Free Funds’ by Authorised Dealers’,  accused banks of buying and selling forex without following stipulated guidelines.

    He reiterated that as provided in the laws and regulations governing dealings in foreign exchange, authorised dealers shall not sell foreign exchange without appropriate documentation and disclosure to the regulatory authorities, irrespective of the source of the funds.

    “Accordingly, authorised dealers shall deal in eligible transactions only, and not engage in any foreign exchange transactions on terms inconsistent with the extant laws and or regulations,” he said.

     

    Improved forex access

    Access to forex by manufacturers and other end-users has improved in recent months. That improvement has made positive impact on the economy.

    The manufacturing sector, which for nearly two years recorded poor performance, has been upbeat in the last five months.

    These boom time was supported by the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX window, also known as willing-buyer, willing-seller window, launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in April 24 and has so far improved manufacturers access to foreign exchange as well as brought substantial improvement in exchange rate stability.

    CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, spoke of huge success in exchange rate stability, based on some of the actions the apex bank took in the last couple of months. The CBN boss said: “We have seen exchange rate stability with some of the actions we have taken in the last couple of months. We do expect that if this trend continues, we should get better. Firstly, with inflation trending downwards, we are hopeful that in the course of time, we will get back again to single digit inflation.”

     

    Exchange rate stability

    The recent stability in the forex market has waxed stronger owing to increased volume and frequency of interventions by the CBN as well as the establishment of the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I & E) FX window.

    Accordingly, the naira strengthened at all segments of the forex market last week as the CBN sustained pace of intervention while foreign investors positioned at primary market sale of T-bills held mid-week.

    At the official market, the CBN continued with its weekly Small and Medium Enterprises sales worth $100 million for spot and short tenured forwards under 60 days while the official rate improved from N305.95/$1 the preceding Friday to N305.90/$1 on Monday before eventually closing the week at N305.85/$1.

    This implies a marginal 3bps appreciation week-on-week. Similarly, at the interbank market, the domestic currency depreciated from N354.99/$1.00 on Monday to N356.99/$1 on Wednesday, but strengthened to N353.50/$1 by the close of the week, up 0.4 per cent week-on-week. At the parallel market, the naira exchanged for N369.70/$1 on Monday, strengthened to N367/$1.00 on Tuesday and traded till the end of the week, up 0.5 per cent week-on-week.

    Despite the spate of forex interventions by the CBN, the external reserves have remained on the uptrend, reaching a 31-month high of $31.9billion on September 19. This accretion to the reserves has been largely due to the stability in oil prices as well as improved production volumes and we believe this will give the CBN more impetus to continue with its interventions.

  • Forex: CBN opens week with $195m ahead of MPC decisions

    Forex: CBN opens week with $195m ahead of MPC decisions

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday boosted the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market by offering a 195 million dollars in three segments of the Forex market.

    The acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement, said it auctioned 100 million dollars at the wholesale Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) window of the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market.

    He said that the apex bank also intervened in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisible segments, with 50 million dollars and 45 million dollars.

    Okorafor reiterated that the Bank’s intervention was to maintain its commitment to sustain liquidity in the market to meet genuine requests as well as deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market.

    He said the CBN would continue to work on achieving the objective of convergence of rates in the various segments of the market, and would continue to strive that the forex market guaranteed transparency in the sale of foreign exchange.

    Okorafor said only last week, the CBN threatened to sanction any Deposit Money Bank (DMB) in breach of its earlier directive of March 3.

    The directive instructed them to, among other things, open teller points for retail Forex transactions and to have electronic display boards in all their branches, showing rates of all trading currencies.

    He said the bank’s firm position was to reiterate its commitment to ensure liquidity in the foreign exchange market, where all genuine requests would be met in line with extant forex guidelines, noting that it would foster more transparency and make the public become aware that the facilities existed.

    This week’s intervention is significant, coming in the midst of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting taking place on Monday and Tuesday.

    Monday’s sale follows the major intervention, last week, to the tune of 545 million dollars as the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) received the largest intervention of 285 million dollars.

    Other segments include the 100 million dollars offered for wholesale SMIS, 90 million dollars for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window and 70 million dollars for invisibles such as Basic Travel Allowances, tuition fees and medical payments.

    Meanwhile the Naira closed at N363 to a dollar, N485 to the Pound Sterling and N433 to one Euro at the parallel market.

  • MPC to consolidate forex, inflation gains

    MPC to consolidate forex, inflation gains

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will consolidate on the gains of the foreign exchange policy which has ensured stability as well as the continuous drop in inflation rate at its meeting today and tomorrow.

    The committee is likely to maintain the status quo on all rates according to analysts.

    The decision at the meeting, the fifth this year, is likely to keep the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which is the benchmark interest rate, unchanged at 14 per cent, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)at 22.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent and the Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR- benchmark interest rate.

    Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Limited Ike Chioke explained at the weekend that the committee members had agreed on the need for more fiscal-monetary policy coordination to sustain improvements in domestic macroeconomic fundamentals.

    He said with the economy now running out of high base effect driven moderation in headline inflation, there is likelihood that inflation rate will rise for the first time since the start of the year in September.

    He said given supposed price-anchored monetary policy regime, the MPC is not likely to cut benchmark rate in a period of rising inflation expectation.

    “MPR has become a less effective Monetary Policy Tool: the case for easing via benchmark rate reduction becomes weaker if the current disparity between the benchmark rate and short-term fixed income yields is taken into consideration. Although the recent bullish streak in the fixed income market has narrowed this spread, it is not enough to justify a cut in interest.

    “While our medium term outlook favours a gradual monetary easing, we believe the stabilisation of the forex market is paramount to achieving monetary policy objectives. The forex market, despite improvements recorded so far in the year, is still in a fragile state as the CBN is yet to harmonise all rates at the official market. As such, in the event that a unified rate is not achieved, monetary easing poses a threat for forex stability”.

    He said the current realities of Nigeria’s budget deficit, suggests the need for the fiscal authorities to continuously fund this disparity, which present tightening stance enhances; though at a higher cost to government.

    Managing Director Cowry Assets Management Limited Johnson Chukwu agreed with Chioke that the MPC will keep rates unchanged.

    “They will keep the rates the way they are. Inflation has moderated to 16.01 per cent and the economy has wriggled out of recession. So, this is not the right time to tamper with rates especially as the economic indicators are moving to positive direction,” he said.

    At the official market, the CBN continued with its weekly Small and Medium Ebterprises sales worth $100 million for spot and short tenured forwards under 60 Days while the Official rate improved from N305.95/$1 the preceding Friday to N305.90/$1 on Monday before eventually closing the week at N305.85/$1.

    This implies a marginal 3bps appreciation Week-on-Week. Similarly, at the interbank market, the domestic currency depreciated from N354.99/$1.00 on Monday to N356.99/$1 on Wednesday, but strengthened to N353.50/$1 by the close of the week, up 0.4 per cent Week-on-Week.

    At the parallel market, the naira exchanged for N369.70/$1 on Monday, strengthened to N367/$1.00 on Tuesday and traded flattish till the end of the week, up 0.5 per cent Week-on-Week.

    Despite the spate of forex interventions by the CBN, the external reserves have remained on the uptrend, reaching a 31-month high of $31.9 billion on September 19. This accretion to the reserves has been largely due to the stability in oil prices as well as improved production volumes and we believe this will give the CBN more impetus to continue with its interventions.

  • MPC meets on forex, interest rates

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be meeting tomorrow and on Tuesday to review recent happenings in the economy and take decisions on inflation, interest rate and exchange rates.

    As has been the case with all meetings held so far in 2017, the committee members are expected in this fifth meeting for the year to keep Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) which is the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 14 per cent.

    Analysts predict the MPC will retain MPR at 14 per cent; Cash Reserve Ratio at 22.5 per cent and Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent as well as retention of the Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.

    The committee members are expected to decide on ways to consolidate gains in the foreign exchange (forex) market and the need for more fiscal-monetary policy coordination to sustain improvements in domestic macroeconomic fundamentals.

    Since the last MPC meeting in July, the odds of a near term aggressive monetary policy tightening in advanced economies have slimmed considerably.

    Also, much to the delight of commodity-exporting countries, oil prices have been on a bullish run since start of the month, after initial scepticism that the production cut agreement between OPEC/non-OPEC countries will do little to trim global supply glut, led to bearish bets in July.

    Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Ike Chioke, said the release of several economic data since the last MPC meeting in July have mirrored Nigeria’s current positive outlook for the economy.

    He said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released second quarter 2017 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures which confirmed expectations already formed from leading macroeconomic and market indicators such as Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data, oil production volumes, forex liquidity and company earnings.

    The report showed GDP expanded by 0.55 per cent year-on-year in June, with growth largely driven by the oil sector which rebounded 1.6 per cent year-on-year from a contraction of 15.6 per cent in the prior year on the back of an improvement in oil output.

    Non-oil sector growth however unexpectedly trimmed to 0.5 per cent in second quarter of this year from 0.7 per cent recorded in first quarter. “Whilst we are of the view that slower growth of the non-oil sector, despite improving forex liquidity and recent drive to boost agriculture sector productivity, will strengthen the case for policy easing from dovish members of the MPC, we reason that the hawkish argument may be overriding given the need to sustain recent gains including increased Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow,” he said.

    Chioke said although the improvement in external sector variables and poor growth of non-oil sector may impose a temptation for policy easing, yet, he believes the MPC would keep interest rate unchanged given the need to consolidate gains on stabilizing forex and inflation rates.

    Managing Director, Cowry Assets Management Limited, Johnson Chukwu, agreed with Chioke that the MPC will keep rates unchanged. “They will keep the rates the way they are. Inflation has moderated to 16.01 per cent and the economy has wriggled out of recession. So, this is not the right time to tamper with rates especially as the economic indicators are moving to positive direction,” he said.

    Continuing, he said: “No one thinks of raising rates when the economic recovery is fragile neither will they cut rates at such times.”

    Other analysts said price level remains sticky as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) inflation report for August indicated headline inflation marginally decelerated to 16.01 per cent Year-on-Year from 16.04 per cent in July.

    Month-no-Month Consumer Price Index growth have remained high since the start of the year against the backdrop of a food price pressure which took food inflation to an all-time high of 20.3 per cent in July 2017. “With the economy now running out of high base effect driven moderation in headline inflation, our model projects inflation rate will rise for the first time since the start of the year in September. Given supposed price-anchored monetary policy regime, the MPC is not likely to cut benchmark rate in a period of rising inflation expectation,” they said.

    “While our medium term outlook favours a gradual monetary easing, we believe the stabilization of the forex market is paramount to achieving monetary policy objectives. The forex market despite improvements recorded so far in the year, it still is in a fragile state as the CBN is yet to harmonize all rates at the official market. As such, in the event that a unified rate is not achieved, monetary easing poses a threat for forex stability. Furthermore, the current realities of Nigeria’s budget deficit, suggests the need for the fiscal authorities to continuously fund this disparity which current tightening stance enhances; though at a higher cost to government,” they predicted.

    The Nigeria capital market started the week on a bearish note, closing 81 basis points and 71 basis points lower on Monday and Tuesday respectively. However, on Wednesday, investor sentiment strengthened as bargain hunting in large cap stocks pushed the benchmark index 19 basis points northwards and this was sustained on Thursday (0.6 per cent gain). However, the market returned to the red on Friday, down 1.8 per cent to close the week at 35,005.57 points, implying a 2.6 per cent decline Week-on-Week. Consequently, year-to-date return fell to 30.3 per cent while investors lost N325.5 billion as market capitalization trimmed to N12.1 trillion.

    The CBN as also reiterated its stance towards intervening at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market. It also warned speculators against “nefarious activities” whilst stating that necessary checks were in place to guard against unlawful practices.

    At the Official segment of the forex market, the CBN conducted its weekly forex sales with $100 million offered at a fixed rate of N330.00/$1 while Official rate pegged at N305.95/$1 all through the week.

    At the Interbank market, the naira rose by 0.8 per cent week-on-week against the dollar to close at N355.49/$1 on Friday. At the parallel market, the naira held steady at N367/$1 between Monday and Wednesday but closed lower at N369/$1 on Thursday, indicating a 1.1 per cent depreciation Week on-week. At the Investors’ & Exporters’ Window, activities remained robust with weekly turnover put at $671.3 million (ex-Friday) as of writing against $705.1 million recorded last week.

    Notwithstanding, rate opened the week at N359.50/$1 and depreciated on all trading days save for Tuesday where it traded flat, to close the week at N360.25/$1.

     

  • Govt to reduce N6b forex spending on tomato imports

    Govt to reduce N6b forex spending on tomato imports

    LOCAL manufacturers have embarked on projects that will reduce the cost of tomato import, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) president,  Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, has said.

    In an interview with The Nation, he said Nigeria currently spends N6bilion on importation of tomato, adding that the country is currently not producing up to its capacity of 1.8million metric tons.  “The spending cut of N6bn spent on the importation of tomato will come about from reduced importation of concentrates and consequent utilisation of local tomato seeds to produce concentrates. You are aware that some manufacturers have commenced backward integration projects which are aimed at producing their own raw materials. The current local installed capacity of tomato is estimated at about 1.8 million metric tons per annum but the actual production capacity is less,” he said.

    Explaining reasons behind the preference of imported tomato to the local ones by Nigerians, he said: “Nigeria does not have the species of tomato seedlings that are suitable for the production of high quality concentrates. The type available locally reportedly contains 70 percent water. It is also reported that the crop yield of the local species is around 7 MT/hectares as against 80 MT/hectares and 110 MT/hectares in China and California respectively. The present volume of local demand is between 750,000 MT and 1.2 Million MT

     Jacobs further said the last tomato disease saga, which affected the availability of tomato in the country, resulted into ‘lull in the tomato market.’

     ”The value of the tomato market is $170million, which today at N365 per dollar exchange rate is about N62.05 billion. There was a lull in the tomato market. However, production was not so much affected because local species of tomato seedlings were not so much in use. What hampered production more was scarcity of forex. Some manufacturers had started experimenting with the use of local species when the disease broke out and that thwarted that experimentation,” the MAN chief said.

  • We’ll sustain forex interventions – CBN

    We’ll sustain forex interventions – CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday assured of its continued intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market in order to sustain liquidity and stability in the sector.

    The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the apex bank, Isaac Okorafor, stated this in Abuja.

    He said the measures being taken by CBN had yielded positive results as far as forex supply was concerned.

    While acknowledging a marginal fluctuation in the exchange rate, Okoroafor noted that the naira remained stable against other major currencies around the world.

    He also observed that activities in the foreign exchange market remained dynamic.

    According to him, the interventions of the apex bank were in line with its commitment to sustain liquidity in the market to meet genuine requests as well as deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market.

    Okorafor warned speculators against nefarious activities, adding that the CBN had put necessary checks in place to guard against sharp practices in the forex market.

  • NEPC: only non-oil export’s forex ’ll spur growth

    NEPC: only non-oil export’s forex ’ll spur growth

    Only Foreign Exchange (forex) earnings from export of non-oil products will spur Nigeria’s sustainable economic growth, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said.

    Its Chief Executive Officer Mr. Segun Awolowo made this known at the Quarterly Lecture organised by the former Director General of National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP), Dr Magnus Kpakol, in Abuja.

    The lecture was titled: “Exporting, exchange rate and economic growth.”

     Awolowo, who was represented by a director at NEPC, George Enyiekpon, a lawyer, said forex generated from remittance from Nigerian relatives abroad could not provide sustainable economic development for the country.

    The NEPC chief also said it was obvious that crude oil was no longer profitable as it was before. He added that the non-oil export should, therefore, be focused on by the country.

    While noting that Nigeria’s exchange rate violability started way back in the 1960s; not just in 2015, he urged the youths to focus on export as a business. According to him, this will not only enable them make ends meet, but also help the country garner much forex.

    However, a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Abuja, Dr Mutiullah Olasupo, blamed Nigeria’s economic growth problem and her forex violability to corrupt leadership and lack of sound economic policies.

    He said bad governance from corrupt leaders wreaked huge havoc on the country’s economy, adding that it would only take sincere and corrupt-free leaders to savage the economy.

    Olasupo cited Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea as countries that were below Nigeria in terms of economic development in 1960s and 1970s, but through sincere leadership and good governance catapulted themselves to be among the economic buoyant countries far above Nigeria.

    Kpakol said Nigeria could still get it right with economic decisions of the government. He said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) policies on agriculture, which were being implemented across the country, were excellent decisions.

    He said CBN’s agriculture policies would not only ensure food security, but are also capable of giving the country a sustainable and stable foreign exchange.

  • CBN lifts naira with $250m forex

    CBN lifts naira with $250m forex

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday boosted the naira’s value against other world currencies with its injection of another $250 million into various segments of the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

    Figures obtained from the CBN on Tuesday indicate that the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segment of the market received the highest intervention with a total of $100 million, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window received a boost of $80 million while the invisibles segment, comprising Business/Personal Travel Allowances, school tuition, medicals, etc. was allocated the sum of $70 million to meet the demands of customers.

    Confirming the figures, the Bank’s spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, noted with delight the recent Quarter 2, 2017 Report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which indicated that Nigeria has gotten out of recession and hinged part of this success to the regular intervention of the Bank in the forex market, to boost liquidity in the market, ensuring timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions and also make forex available to the real sector and industrial capacities, critical to the Nigerian economy.

    The spokesman also reminded the public of the Governor’s prediction few months ago that the Nigerian economy will be out of recession at the end of the third quarter, 2017, which is largely due to the monetary policy stance of the CBN. This has been confirmed by the NBS Report.

    It will be recalled that last week, the Naira was given a boost as the CBN injected $297m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segment, raising the total intervention for the week to the sum of $547 million.