The Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that the Nigerian economy had seen an inflow of over $1.5 billion inflow in the past few days, signaling significant yields as the Apex Bank continues efforts in its monetary policy reforms.
The Bank’s acting director, Corporate Communications Department, Hakama Ali, noted that data showed that the inflows into the Nigerian economy resulted from an intensive effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
According to Ali, the naira has also continued to record gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market, as it traded at N1,309/$1 as against N1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.
While noting that Thursday’s rate signified that the naira was headed in the right direction, she assured that the Yemi Cardoso-led Central Bank remained committed to its core mandate which are: price stability, and ensuring that the Nigerian legal tender regains its value against other major currencies worldwide.
The positive development comes on the heels of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee announcement of a 200 basis points increase in its benchmark rate, from 22.75 per cent in February to 24.75 per cent on March 26, 2024, amounting to a record 600 basis points in one month.
The move, according to experts, is aimed at curtailing the tide of the inflationary trend which reached a record at 31.7 in February while assuring investors of a viable and sustainable economic environment.
MPC Meeting
During his post-meeting briefing, the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, also reiterated that the apex bank had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlogs, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the forex market.
The bank conducted the Nigerian Treasury Bills auction of N1.64 trillion on Wednesday, at stop rates of 16.24 per cent, 17 per cent, and 21.124 per cent for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.
