The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has expressed pleasure about the relative stability of the Naira in the past months.
The CBN boss disclosed in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, that the naira volatility will not resurface again.Â
He said:
According to Cardoso, the apex bank’s various interventions calmed the Nairaâs volatility while stating that Nigeriaâs Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would do everything possible to stem inflation.
The Nigerian currency had remained relatively stable in June, trading between N1,473 and N1,485 per dollar in the official market, before crashing on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
The relative moderation of the naira appeared to be a win for the reforms initiated by Bola Tinubuâs government and a positive sign for the apex bank’s interventions.
Reports say the financial institutions regulator increased the key interest rate to 26.25% to attract dollar inflows to end volatility and curb inflation, which spiked to 33.95% in May.
Financial experts believe that the relative stability of the Naira was due to inflows to the Nigerian economy.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that about $5.95 billion from the World Bank and Afreximbank entered the economy, boosting the countryâs external reserves and strengthening Nairaâs value.
CBN data reveals that the FX inflow saw the countryâs FX reserves rising to $33.58 billion as of June 19, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Naira crashed to its lowest since May 2024 on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, trading at N1,500.75 per dollar in the official market as against the N1,488.06 it traded the day before.
Data from the FMDQ Exchange shows that Forex turnover improved relatively at $136.75 million.
This development comes as the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) said it is collaborating with the CBN to establish a stable FX rate for import duties.
The Customs forex rate for import duty has also been stable for a while.
TimesNow.com.ng previously reported that the Nigerian currency depreciated in the official market after the holidays as the scramble for the dollar increased.
Analysts point to the resumption of business activities as the reason for the increased dollar demand, stating that most businesses and importers already placed requisitions for the US greenback before the holidays.
The naira traded slightly low in the official foreign exchange market at N1,483 to the dollar on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, compared to the N1,473 it traded on Friday, June 14, 2024.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at TimesNow.com.ng
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
