CBN Sale Of Forex To Banks Decline To $1.65bn

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that its intervention in the foreign exchange market (forex) declined to $1.65 billion in August 2021.

In the forex report for August 2021 released on Thursday, the CBN said its continued intervention in the foreign exchange market is to ensure systemic stability and adequate liquidity.

According to the report released by the apex bank, the sales of forex to commercial banks reduced from $2.05 billion in July despite its stoppage of weekly dollar allocation to Bureaux de Change (BDCs) in July over alleged forex racketeering.

The CBN said total forex sales to authorised dealers by the bank was $1.65 billion in August, representing a decrease of 19.3 per cent relative to $2.05 billion in July.

A breakdown showed that forex sales to interbank, Swap transactions and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) interventions rose by 63.5 per cent, 72.3 per cent, and 42.5 per cent to $0.28 billion, $0.46 billion, and $0.17 billion, respectively.

The CBN said its interventions at the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) and Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) fell by 33.8 per cent and 14.7 per cent to $0.52 billion and US$0.23 billion, respectively, compared with the levels in the previous month.