The Central Bank of Nigeria has reported an inflow of more than $1.5 billion into the country's economy recently, which is a positive sign that its monetary policy is working. This information was disclosed by the CBN's Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Mrs. Sidi Ali, in a statement on Saturday.
The CBN's efforts to stabilize the foreign exchange market have contributed to the inflows, as per the data available to the bank. The naira has also continued to gain strength in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market, trading at N1,309/$1 on Friday, compared to N1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.
Ali assured that the Cardoso-led CBN is dedicated to stabilizing the market and maintaining appropriate pricing of the Naira against major currencies worldwide.
On June 14, 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) implemented a unified exchange rate policy which caused the official value of the naira to decline to over 1,600 against the US dollar. Following this, the CBN conducted its 294th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting from Monday to Tuesday and raised the benchmark interest rate by two percent to 24.75%.
Meanwhile, the CBN conducted its 294th MPC meeting Monday to Tuesday, raising the benchmark interest rate by two per cent to 24.75%.
During a post-meeting briefing, CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, emphasized that the bank had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlog, indicating an improvement in liquidity in the foreign exchange market.
The bank held a Treasury Bills auction of N1.64 trillion on Wednesday, with stop rates of 16.24%, 17%, and 21.124% for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.
While the decision to increase the interest rate raised concerns among citizens and economic experts, the governor stated it was aimed at stabilizing the economy by aligning the interest rate with the current inflation, and he suggested that the increase would not be prolonged.
