Demands for foreign exchange by authorized dealers have
dropped, as the dealers were only able to pick $45 million out of the $100
million offered by the Central Bank of Nigeria on wholesale spot.
The situation has been attributed to the rate of forex
liquidity being pumped into the system by the CBN.
Industry experts say it is only a matter of time before the
dollar begins another round of crash.
The experts also attributed the new trend to the general
cash crunch in the financial system.
The dollar has also crashed against major currencies since
US President Donald Trump’s surprising declaration that China is not
manipulating the value of the yuan.
Acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN,
Isaac Okorafor, told newsmen on Friday that major injections made by the Bank
in the course of the week were aimed at providing access to all stakeholders
with legitimate need for forex.
“The CBN remains upbeat that the forex market will remain
liquid and that Nigerians who genuinely require the forex will get ample access
to the currency,” Okorafor noted.
CBN made special interventions in the Bureau de Change
Segment of the forex market in addition to over $500 million offered to dealers
in the wholesale and retail segments in the past week.
Okorafor had disclosed that the new window for SMEs provides
small scale importers an avenue to source forex to boost their respective
business through the importation of eligible finished and semi-finished items
at not more than $20,000 per quarter per enterprise.
