. As CBN Offers $367m For Forex Forwards
The greenback on Monday crashed against the Naira, as the Nigerian currency gained 5 points at the parallel market against the Dollar.
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 1USD, 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 1 USD.
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.
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.
Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday carried out another round of retail interventions in the interbank FOREX market by providing a total sum of $367,134,329.93 to meet the forwards requests of customers.
A breakdown of the forwards shows that the sum of $144,073,753.07 was for 45 days forwards, while $223,060,576.86 was for 60 days.
The CBN Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the release, adding that the move was in line with the Bank’s determination to ease the foreign exchange pressure on various sectors through forward sales under the new flexible Foreign Exchange regime to keep the market liquidity.