Reports indicate that further intervention by the Federal Government in the Foreign Exchange Market has continued to yield positive results as the Naira appreciated by 2.13% at the parallel market on Thursday to close at 374 against the United States Dollars. However, at the official market, the Naira appreciated by about 0.2% to close at 305 to the US Dollars
Meanwhile the Naira stabled at 490 and 422 against the Pound Sterling and Euro respectively at the parallel market. The steady gains being witnessed in Forex could be attributed to the sustained intervention efforts by the federal Government especially in the area of liquidity. On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) injected over $482million into the market, thus addressing significant liquidity challenge faced by banks and operators of Bureau De Change.
Distribution breakdown of the intervention fund as disclosed by the Acting Director, Corporate Communication at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor reveals that the "Retail SMIS was allocated $285,779,350, while $100 million was offered in the Wholesale SMIS auction window".
He added that "the Small, Medium and Enterprises (SMEs) window got an allocation of $52 million, while the invisibles segment, comprising Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), Personal Travel Allowance, medicals and tuition fees, among others, was allocated $45 million"
