The Central Bank of Nigeria is set to pump more United States dollars into the foreign exchange market this weekend, in continuation of its strategy to further strengthen the value of the naira, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
A source at the apex bank told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that the CBN was set to release an additional $350m into the forex market.
The move will push the total amount that the CBN has pumped into the market this week to about $570m, in its bid to further crash the value of the dollar.
The bank had earlier released $80m for dollar demands for school fees, medicals and Personal Travel Allowance, and injected another $100m into the wholesale forwards segment of the market.
It was learnt that the injection would likely cause panic among traders and other players in the market, some of whom had suffered losses after the recent appreciation of the naira against the dollar.
The fresh injection might cause a liquidity glut in the system with some banks said to be looking for customers to buy dollars in order to avoid incurring losses from the expected further appreciation of the naira.
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Isaac Okorafor, who confirmed the fresh strategy, said with improving reserve levels, the apex bank was determined to continuously make forex available to all genuine customers through their banks.
Okorafor, however, advised people hoarding US dollars to reduce their losses by selling them.
