By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says its official market recorded a turnover of $43bn in customer transactions by the end of July 2024.
The apex bank disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
The CBN said said the foreign exchange market is also showing signs of improvement and increased depth, with more robust and diversified sources of liquidity contributing to the economy.
The statement said, “The foreign exchange market is also showing signs of improvement and increased depth, with more robust and diversified sources of liquidity contributing to the sustained convergence of exchange rates across all segments of the market.
“The official market recorded a turnover of $43bn in customer transactions by the end of July 2024, with CBN-supplied liquidity representing less than 5 per cent of total market activities.
“The CBN remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering a transparent, market-driven foreign exchange market, and it will continue to strengthen the market’s capacity to meet the needs of all legitimate participants.”
According to the CBN, its intervention approach will also help the currency in price recovery.
The apex bank said, “This approach aims to foster a more transparent market, reducing information asymmetry and supporting price discovery.
“It complements the two-way quote system deployed over the past few months to enhance liquidity in the interbank market, through which over $305m of foreign exchange has been sold to authorised dealers in the last three weeks.
“The CBN’s policy objectives are yielding tangible results and bolstering market confidence. Net foreign exchange flows rose to $25.4 billion between January and June, marking a 55% year-over-year increase.
CBN said the growth was driven by a rise in capital importation, which reached $6bn in June 2024, and record inflows from diaspora remittances through formal channels.
The Apex Bank offered $876m to fulfill bids submitted by customers at an auction concluded on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, noting that 26 out of 32 authorized dealers were qualified for the offer.
“In line with its pledge to provide transparent access to foreign exchange for all legitimate customers, the CBN’s leadership has introduced an additional mechanism through the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) to directly facilitate FX sales to end users,” it added.
