Ronke Kehinde/
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided $210 million to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the foreign exchange market.
The apex bank disclosed this in a statement issued by its acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, today.
Okorafor revealed that CBN offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market.
He noted that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got an allocation of $55 million, and customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated $55 million.
The statement says: “CBN has reliably gathered that some banks are turning back customers that come to purchase BTA/PTA and Foriegn Exchange for pilgrimage.
“We hereby appeal to bank customers to go straight to their banks to buy forex as the CBN has supplied enough dollars to banks to meet needs in the invisible segment.
“Customers are hereby enjoined to report any bank that refuses to attend to their legitimate demands within 24 hours. Please call 07002255226.”
Okorafor stated that the commitment to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market was in line with pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.
He mentioned that the CBN would sustain its strategic management of the foreign exchange market with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.
The CBN on Friday intervened in the market to the tune of $293 million to cater for requests in the retail segment of the forex market.
Meanwhile, the Naira continued its stability in the market, exchanging at an average of N363 to a dollar in the Bureau de Change segment of the market.
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