CBN Sells $150mn to Boost Forex Supply in Currency Market
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold $150 million to authorised dealer banks to strengthen the US dollar volume available at the supply side, updated data has revealed.
The naira remains under pressure due to imbalanced supply and demand for foreign currency amidst a slowdown in FX inflows.
The market anticipates the naira to close at N1500 per dollar in 2025 with the condition that the authority will not slow down FX intervention.
In November, a little less than $400 million was spent to defend the local currency at the official window. In spite of this, the naira still weakened against the dollar.
Now, the same pattern is building, and the official rate has crossed its fair value estimated for 2025. The CBN came to the forex market for its intervention actions three times last week, selling $50 million per batch to boost the supply side.
FX interventions are projected to persist amidst growing external reserves. Nigeria’s gross external reserves balance has climbed above the $45 billion benchmark due to strong inflows from oil earnings, and Eurobond funding supported the build-up. GTCO Rises Amidst Update on Total Voting Rights
