Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the country’s foreign reserves have received an additional $600 million.
The development is expected to contribute to the appreciation of the Naira against the Dollar in the official market.
However, Cardoso clarified that the reserve shifts are not related to defending the Naira in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
During the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington, DC, Cardoso stated that CBN’s focus was on achieving independence for the foreign exchange market, allowing market forces to control it.
The goal is to establish a willing buyer/willing seller price discovery mechanism, ultimately reducing the need for central bank intervention.
Cardoso also pointed out the importance of maintaining sufficient liquidity in the market.
According to him, the recent sales of foreign exchange by the apex bank were part of efforts to catalyze the Bureau de Change market.
As of April 15, Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $32.29 billion. With the additional $600 million inflow, the external reserves are expected to rise to approximately $33.49 billion.
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