The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that over $1.5 billion has flowed into the Nigerian economy in recent days, News About Nigeria reports.
Mrs. Sidi Ali, the Acting Director of the CBN’s Corporate Communications Department, made this revelation in a statement released to Saturday Punch on Friday.
According to Ali, the influx of funds is a result of the CBN’s efforts to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
She noted that the data available to the bank indicates a positive trend, with the naira recording gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market.
As of Friday, the naira traded at N1,309 against the dollar, compared to N1,611 in the second week of March 2024.
Ali expressed optimism about the direction of the naira’s movement, stating that the Cardoso-led CBN remains committed to ensuring market stability and appropriate pricing of the naira against major currencies globally.
The CBN’s decision to harmonise the country’s exchange rate on June 14, 2023, had initially led to a weakening of the naira to over 1,600 against the dollar at the official market.
However, recent interventions and policy adjustments seem to be yielding positive results.
Meanwhile, the CBN recently concluded its 294th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting from Monday to Tuesday, where it announced a two percent increase in the benchmark interest rate to 24.75 percent.
This move came after a four percent increase in February, bringing the lending rate to 22.75 percent.
Furthermore, the CBN conducted a Treasury Bills auction of N1.64 trillion on Wednesday, with stop rates of 16.24 percent, 17 percent, and 21.124 percent for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.
