By Mustapha Usman
As the naira continues to appreciate against the dollar and other foreign currencies amid liquidity boost, indications emerge that CBN is unrelenting in its move to ensure more liquidity in the interbank FOREX market, as it will inject more foreign exchange into market early this week.
Even though the Bureau de Change and parallel market segments have also benefitted from the recent interventions, the next action of the apex bank is sending jitters to currency speculators who hitherto took advantage of the scarcity of foreign exchange in the recent past.
Confirming the proposed additional foreign exchange injection into the system, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor said that bank was determined to sustain the provision of liquidity in the foreign exchange market in order to enhance accessibility and affordability for genuine end users.
Mr. Okorafor also cautioned dealers in foreign exchange not to engage in any unwholesome practice that is detrimental to smooth operations in the market, warning that the CBN would impose heavy sanctions on any organization or official involved in such act.
As at last week, the CBN had intervened in the interbank FOREX market by offering over $1.2 billion for both wholesale and retail interventions.
The CBN had offered the sum of 100 million dollars as wholesale interventions and sold about 70 million to meet requests for business and personal travel allowances. The move was in a bid to sustain the tempo of foreign exchange supply to the interbank market and ensure liquidity.
It was also to enable more people to overcome the difficulty of obtaining forex for their transactions.
