Nigerian Economy: $1.5bn Inflow Excites CBN
BY COBHAM NSA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is upbeat that the Nigerian economy recorded a $1.5 billion inflow within a week after the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was raised by 200 basis points to 24.75 percent on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
For the Apex Bank, this impressive development over the past few days strongly indicates that its monetary policy efforts are working positively.
CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, who announced the cheering news in Abuja yesterday, said that data available to the Bank showed that the inflows resulted from the Bank’s concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
She explained that 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.
The CBN Spokesperson, while noting that Thursday’s rate signified that the Naira is heading in the right direction, assured that the Cardoso-led apex Bank remains committed to ensuring the stability of the market and the appropriate pricing of the Naira against other major currencies worldwide.
In the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on March 25 and 26, which was the second for the year 2024 and also its 294th meeting, the CBN announced a two-percent increase in its benchmark rate from 22.75% to 24.75% on Tuesday.
Speaking after the MPC meeting, the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed that the apex Bank had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlogs, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the foreign exchange market.
In another development, the CBN 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.