The Nigerian economy had an inflow of over $1.5bn in the past few days, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development it says indicates the CBN’s monetary policy efforts are working.
The Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Hakama Ali, made the assertion on Thursday when she noted that data available to the bank, indicated that the inflows resulted from a concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
According to her, the naira has also continued to record gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market, as it traded at N1,309/$1 as against N1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.
While noting that Thursday’s rate signified that the naira was headed in the right direction, she assured that the Yemi Cardoso-led CBN remained committed to ensuring the stability of the market, and the appropriate pricing of the naira against other major currencies worldwide.
The development comes on the heels of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement of a two-percent increase in its benchmark rate, from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent on March 26, 2024.
During his post-meeting briefing, the Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, also reiterated that the CBN had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlog, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the foreign exchange market.
The Bank conducted the Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) auction of N1.64trn on March 27, 2024, at stop rates of 16.24 per cent, 17 per cent, and 21.124 per cent for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.
