CBN Spends $581m On Foreign Exchange Interventions – FMDQ

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),Dr Oluyemi Cardoso has said  that the apex bank is not draining the country ‘s foreign reserve to shore up the value of naira.

This was  revealed  during the 2024 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington DC.
There has been speculation  by Nigerians regarding the country’s foreign exchange interventions.

Backing his statement with evidence, Cardoso referenced data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, which disclosed that the CBN had injected a modest $581 million into the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market within the year.
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However, this amount constituted merely 3.2 percent of the total market turnover, which amounted to $17.938 billion during the same period.

Further examination revealed that the CBN had also supplied approximately $60 million to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators over the last two months, indicating a renewed dollar sales initiative in 2024. Despite these interventions, they were not identified as the primary catalyst for the recent uptick in the naira’s value.

As of April 15, 2024, the CBN reported that the country’s foreign exchange reserves had dwindled to $32.29 billion, a decline from the $34.45 billion recorded on March 18, 2024. Cardoso attributed this decrease to debt repayments, underscoring the importance of honoring financial obligations promptly to preserve the nation’s credibility.

He drew parallels between Nigeria’s fluctuating reserves and the experiences of other nations grappling with debt obligations, emphasizing the imperative of meeting such commitments to safeguard the country’s financial integrity.