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Tag: Mr Isaac Okorafor

  • Breaking:Emefiele still in office, says CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed claims that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele has been sacked.

    Responding to enquiries from The Nation on Monday, the Director Corporate Communications of the CBN Mr. Isaac Okorafor told The Nation that “the governor is in his office working. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

    Another official of the CBN also told The Nation Correspondent that “there is nothing like that, the governor is here, his tenure expires in June.

    Read Also: Emefiele to Atiku: your monetary policy agenda disastrous

    “In fact he has functions to attend to tomorrow, one of which is to meet with stakeholders in the cotton value chain on Tuesday March 5, 2019.”

    An online medium had reported on Monday afternoon that the CBN governor has been sacked by the presidency and given two weeks to clear his table and “handover to an unnamed successor.“

  • Nigeria’s foreign reserve still strong, says CBN

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has explained the recent reduction in the level of the country’s foreign reserves but has said that the fall does not have anything to do with political actors.

    Director of Corporate Communications of the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor who gave this explanation at the 13th Abuja Chamber of Commerce Mines and Industries (ABUCCIMA) Trade Fair in Abuja said foreign reserves fell “because of global squeeze on emerging markets, which was consequent upon increasing interest rates in the United States of America.”

    Read Also:CBN: Nigeria risks relapse into recession

    Okorafor noted that other developing and emerging markets like Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina and even China were facing similar dilemma.

    Despite this squeeze, Okorafor assured that notwithstanding the fall, the present level of the Nigeria’s foreign reserve now stands at “$44 billion which is capable of financing between 14 and 17 months imports which is way above internationally acceptable three months.”

    He also gave assurance to customer of defunct Skye Bank that their deposits were safe in Polaris Bank.

    Okorafor stated that Polaris Bank was duly registered at Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and licenced by CBN.

    He also told the audience at the fair that the overall impact of CBN’s numerous interventions will continue to enhance the operational capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

    These interventions the CBN said “has translated into a reflation of our economy with attendant growth and development.”

    The CBN he said will continue to ensure that it delivers on its core mandate of ensuring monetary and price stability.

    However, it cautioned that “it will also continually roll out proactive and innovative policies which would ensure that all economic sub-sectors especially the SMEs in Agribusiness receive the desired support.”

    According to Isaac Okorafor “we are determined to ensure that Nigeria’s economy remains in a state of consistent growth even as we focus on economic diversification and national food sufficiency.”

    In his response, President of ABUCCIMA, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode who was represented by Prof. Adesoji Adesugba disclosed that the Chamber has restructured and now operates through four Centres.

    The prime Centre he revealed “is the Abuja Trade Centre (ATC). The other Centres are the Trade Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC), the Business Entrepreneurial Skills and Technology (BEST) Centre for Skills and Capacity Development as well as the Policy Advocacy Centre which is out to help MDAs to deliver on their respective mandates.

    The 13th Abuja International Trade Fair Prince Adetokunbo Kayode said “seeks to Promote accelerated development of commerce and industry; Promote revitalization and diversification of the Nigerian economy by promoting the nation’s non-oil exports; Direct attention to the role of private sector in the Nigerian economy; Provide access to resources and technology findings; and Attract foreign investment into the Nigerian economy.

    The ABUCCIMA boss expressed appreciation to the CBN for the apex bank’s swift response “which have succeeded in ridding our economy of sharp practices by some financial institutions or houses.”

    In the area of Development Finance, Prince Kayode applauded the CBN for ensuring “the supply of finance to various sectors of the economy which has promoted the growth of the economy in a holistic manner making development, welfare improvement to proceed at a faster rate.”

  • CBN injects $364m into inter-bank Forex market

    CBN injects $364m into inter-bank Forex market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has intervened in the Inter-Bank market to the tune of 364 million dollars to sustain liquidity in the Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.

    Mr Isaac Okorafor, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, CBN said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Okorafor said the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) received the largest allocation of about 264.1million dollars.

    He said the CBN also offered 100 million dollars to authorised dealers in the wholesale window.

    “The CBN also received requests from authorised Forex dealers on behalf of their customers, for which results will be released.

    “The bank remains committed to achieving a convergence of rates at the inter-bank and Bureau-de-Change segments of the market,” he said.

    The apex bank had recently intervened in the wholesale, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisible windows to the tune of 195 million dollars.

    Meanwhile, the CBN said payment for port charges to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other agencies by oil marketing companies could now be accommodated by the bank using Form ‘A’.

    A circular by the Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Wuritka Gotring, directed authorised dealers to accept the request for the payments of port charges from oil marketing companies.

    “Such request should be forwarded to the CBN Forex window,” the circular stated.

  • CBN boosts foreign exchange supply with $195m

    CBN boosts foreign exchange supply with $195m

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, intervened in inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market with the supply of 195 million dollars as part of effort to stabilise the market.

    The acting Director, Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement, said 100 million dollars was offered through the wholesale segment.

    He said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received 50 million dollars, while tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, got 45 million dollars.

    Okorafor said that the CBN was pleased with the state of the market, and assured that the bank would continue to intervene in order to sustain liquidity in the market and guarantee international value of the naira.

    He said the apex bank remained determined to achieve its objective of rates convergence, “hence the unrelenting injection of intervention funds into the foreign exchange market’’.

    Okorafor expressed optimism that the naira would sustain its run against the dollar and other major currencies around the world, considering the level of transparency in the market.

    He, therefore, advised stakeholders to abide by the guidelines to ensure transparency in the market.

    Last week, the CBN intervened in the various segments of the foreign exchange market with the injection of 396.8 million dollars.

    Meanwhile, the naira continued to maintain its stability in the market, exchanging at an average of N364 to a dollar in the Bureau de Change segment of the market.

     

  • Forex: CBN receives bid for $100m

    Forex: CBN receives bid for $100m

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has received bids for foreign exchange (forex) of about 100 million dollars from authorised dealers in the interbank market to meet the requests of genuine customers.

    The acting Director, CBN Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said that the sales would be settled on Friday.

    He said that no intervention was made by the apex bank to meet requests for invisibles on Thursday.

    Okorafor reiterated that the CBN would continue to make necessary interventions in the interbank market to meet all legitimate transaction-based foreign exchange demands by customers.

    It will be recalled that the Bank in its last auction sale on Wednesday, offered 150 million dollars to the interbank market with the highest bid rate at N335 to a dollar, while the marginal rate was N320 to a dollar.

    Meanwhile, the Naira continues to firm up against the dollar at the parallel market.

    The Naira today traded at N448 to dollar as against N450 it traded on Wednesday and N452 on Tuesday.

    The Naira has also appreciated against the Pound Sterling, trading at N530 as against N540. It also traded at N465 to the Euro as against Wednesday rate of N475.

    At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira continues to trade for N399 to a dollar, while a Pound Sterling and Euro changes for N580 and N525, respectively.

    The Nigerian currency also traded at N306.2 at the interbank market

  • CBN demands foreign exchange outlets at airports

    CBN demands foreign exchange outlets at airports

    To ease the burden of travellers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all banks to open Foreign Exchange outlets to sell dollars and other hard currencies at major airports.

    According to a statement signed on Monday by the CBN acting Director of Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, the banks are to do so as soon as logistics permit.

    Okorafor said that this would also ensure that transactions were settled at much more competitive exchange rates.

    “Similarly, the CBN is providing direct additional funding to banks to meet the needs of Nigerians for Personal and Business Travel, Medical needs, and School fees, effective immediately.

    “For medical and school fees, such payments must be made by commercial banks directly to the institution specified by the customer.

    “The CBN would ensure that this process is as smooth as possible and that as many customers as possible get the foreign exchange they genuinely demand.

    “The CBN expects such retail transactions to be settled at a rate not exceeding 20 percent above the interbank market rate,” he said.

    Okorafor said that the apex bank had also reduced the tenure of its Forward Sales from the current maximum cycle of 180 days, to not more than 60 days from the date of transactions.

    “In order to maintain confidence in the FX market, the CBN will immediately begin implementing its articulated programme to clear all the unfilled orders in the interbank FX market.

    “Given our plan to meet all unfilled orders, and provision of FX to the manufacturing sector would remain the CBN’s strong priority, we will no longer impose allocation rules on commercial banks.

    “We will implement an effective intervention programme to support the inter-bank market to ensure adequate liquidity necessary to deliver an efficient FX market,” he said.

    Okorafor said that the FMDQ trading had also been advised to activate its Foreign Exchange Order-Book systems as soon as possible and also accelerate the onboarding of FX clients on the FX Relationship Systems to ensure total transparency of the FX market.

    The apex bank urged market participants to assist in ensuring that these new measures were followed to preserve the external reserves, the stability of the financial system and economic growth for the benefit of all Nigerians.

  • Forex utilization: CBN disburses $2.83bn in two months

    Forex utilization: CBN disburses $2.83bn in two months

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has disbursed the sum of $2.83 billion for utilization in the critical sectors of the economy between December 2016 and January 2017.

    A release by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor stated that manufacturing, industrial raw material and agriculture among others topped these disbursements targeted at employment generating and wealth creating sectors of the economy.

    A breakdown of the disbursement shows that, “the sum of $609 million and $228 million were released for raw materials in the months December and January respectively while manufacturing also attracted the sum $53 million and $71 million respectively during the same period.”

    The foreign exchange utilization figures indicate that the sums of $1.839 billion and $0.989 billion respectively were extended to critical sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum products and airlines among others in December 2016 and January 2017.

    Commenting further on the development, Okorafor, stressed the determination of the Bank to continue to ease the foreign exchange pressure on critical sectors.

    It will be recalled that the CBN in the month of November 2016, supported critical sectors with $1,070,175,392.04 equivalent of foreign exchange for agricultural machinery, industrial raw materials, education and personal travel allowances to source industrial raw materials and spare-parts through the interbank foreign market.

  • Nigeria’s rice exportation to start in 2017 — CBN

    Nigeria’s rice exportation to start in 2017 — CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) on Tuesday said it’s set  to begin exportation of rice by 2017, based on its Anchor Borrowers Programme  for the promotion of Agriculture

    According to the CBN, the Anchor Borrowers Programme of  the CBN and the Presidential Committee on Rice Production, launched in July had jointly set the target.

    The Acting Director of Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said this in Yenagoa at a sensitisation workshop for farmers.

    The theme of the workshop is entitled: “Promoting Stability and Economic Development’’.

    According to him, farmers in Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Sokoto and Cross River states, among others, have already keyed into the programme, resulting in massive rice cultivation.

    He said the country would achieve self-sustenance in rice production if the momentum was sustained, adding that the country should commence exportation of locally produced rice by 2017.

    Okorafor said Kebbi State had already harvested one million tonnes of rice, adding that Ebonyi’s harvest had outstripped the earmarked production for the year.

    “The development is encouraging and by the end of 2017, we will not only meet our national demand which is between six and seven million tonnes but have a surplus to export.

    “We must rid ourselves of eating foreign rice that has been stored for over nine years in Thailand, Vietnam and India. Nigerian rice is fresh and healthier.

    “We should eat Nigerian rice provided for by the CBN Anchor Programme;  50 Kg of local rice is now N8, 000 in Ebonyi. Already, the Abia Government has ordered rice from Ebonyi for Christmas,’’ he said.

    He further said: “What we have done with this programme so far is to create jobs through farming, especially for the unemployed youths.

    “Nigerian youths must wake up, dust themselves up and join this worthy campaign.

    “Remember that the status of our farmers is now better due to the support they are receiving as a result of government’s policy.

    “Our currency is weak because we engaged in a needless importation of all kinds of foodstuffs, including toothpicks; the government is determined to stop this.’’

    The Branch Controller, CBN, Yenagoa, Mr Oke Nwajah, said the state was blessed with rich wet soil that supported rice cultivation.

    He,therefore, urged the farmers to take pride in farming, adding that the Anchor Borrowers Programme was an intervention to reduce their burden.