Nairametrics| The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday issued a press release, announcing that it would start selling forex to SME’s who it claims have been crowded out by large corporations and multinationals.
The bank will sell $20,000 per quarter to each SME via currency forwards to meet their import needs. No price was mentioned in the circular.
The Central Bank has increased its intervention in the FX market since February. It started by reducing duration for FX forwards from 90 to 60 days and then supplied FX to the commercial banks and BDCs at a rate of N360 and N362 respectively. The addition of SMEs to the mix confirms the CBN as the sole supplier and determinant of price in an FX market that is yearning for price discovery.
See press release below.