CBN sells $195m ahead of MPC decisions

Ahead of the decisions of the Monetary Policy Committee on Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday boosted liquidity in various segments of the inter-bank foreign exchange market with a total of $195m.At Monday’s forex trading, the CBN offered the sum of $100m as wholesale interventions and allocated the sum of $50m to the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises forex window. The invisibles segment comprising the Business/Personal Travel Allowances, tuition and medical fees, among others, received $45m.The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, in a statement said the bank continued to intervene in the inter-bank sector in order to ensure adequate liquidity in the market. According to him, the CBN management is pleased with the performance of the naira against other major currencies around the world, particularly now that the forex rates at both the inter-bank and the Bureau De Change segments neared convergence. Okorafor expressed optimism that the bank’s intervention had put a check on the activities of speculators, just as he underscored the determination of the CBN in sustaining stability in the forex market through monitoring of authorised dealers in order to reduce incidences of sharp practices.