Naira closes at 363/dollar, CBN sells forex to manufacturers, airlines

The Central Bank of Nigeria has injected $285.7m into the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market to meet requests in four sectors of the economy.

This came just the naira closed at 363 per United States dollar on Friday, the same rate it had closed in the past one week.

Details obtained from the CBN indicated that firms in the agricultural, airline, petroleum and raw materials space received various sums of forex allocation based on requests put forward by their respective banks.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Isaac Okorafor, said the releases underlined the high level of transparency at the bank in forex management.

According to him, the CBN will continue to play its role in easing the foreign exchange pressure on the manufacturing and agricultural sectors through sales under the new flexible foreign exchange regime.

The naira is expected to remain stable across the various windows as the currency hit a resistance level for investors, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr.  Godwin Emefiele, has urged investors to come to Nigeria, stating that the nation’s return on investment in all sectors of the economy are among the best in the world.

Addressing a gathering of capital and money market players, investment bankers, treasurers and other fund managers at the London Stock Exchange on Friday, Emefiele’s said, “Nigeria is ready for business”, telling the story of how Nigeria emerged from what was its worst recession in decades.

The forum was organised by the London Stock Exchange, in collaboration with the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Afrinvest.

In a statement by the CBN, Emefiele was quoted as citing the ongoing reforms and the huge opportunities available to investors in several sectors notably agriculture, solid minerals and infrastructure.

Present at the occasion were the British Minister for International Development, Priti Patel; Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State; Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; CEO of the London Stock Exchange, Mr. Nikhil Rathi; CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema; DG of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, Ms. Patience Oniha; and Group CEO of Afrinvest, Mr. Ike Chioke.

Also at the occasion, the Nigerian Banking sector report conducted by Afrinvest was launched and it shows that Nigerian banks remain resilient and profitable in spite of the headwinds emanating from the current economic situation in the country.