*Naira Trades N1,309/$1 At NAFEM
By Chris Agabi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the inflow of over $1.5 billion into the economy over the past few days indicates that its monetary policy efforts are working positively.
The Bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, disclosed this on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
She noted that data available to the Bank indicated that the inflows resulted from the Bank’s concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
According to her, 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 Cardoso-led CBN would remain committed to ensuring the stability of the market and the appropriate pricing of the Naira against other major currencies worldwide.
It will be recalled that the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced a two-percent increase in its benchmark rate from 22.75% to 24.75% on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. During his post-meeting briefing, the Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, also reiterated that the CBN had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlog, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the foreign exchange market.
The Bank conducted the Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) auction of N1.64 trillion on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at stop rates of 16.24%, 17%, and 21.124% for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.
