Emefiele

By Ngozi Onyeakusi– The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at the weekend, made its first foreign exchange (forex) intervention for the year, with $253.38 million, under the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) and CNY16.76 million in the spot and short-tenored forwards segment of the inter-bank foreign market. The development may have marked the take-off of the 2020 forex intervention efforts of the apex bank, aimed at supporting the monetary policy objectives that are challenged by the weak fiscal environment and low domestic productivity, leading to huge importation. The Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, who disclosed this, said the intervention was for requests in the agricultural and raw materials sectors. The Chinese Yuan, on the other hand, was for Renminbi-denominated Letters of Credit. Okorafor further expressed satisfaction over the stability of the foreign exchange especially during the yuletide and New Year celebrations, which according to him, was largely due to sustained intervention by the bank.