The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, has said that the country recorded a total foreign exchange inflow of about $24 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
Cardoso made this disclosure in a statement during an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday in London.
The CBN governor mentioned that the monetary policy tools employed by the apex bank are showing positive impacts on the FX market.
Cardoso noted that the rise in FX liquidity in the first quarter of 2024 is the highest in any quarter since 2021.
“In terms of liquidity, especially on the foreign exchange side, we’ve seen an increase. The first quarter of this year has resulted in a total inflow of about $24 billion. Now, this is almost about 40 to 50% more than the quarters up to about 2021.
“Clearly, the tools are having a positive impact. So we believe that continuing on this trajectory, we believe that liquidity will continue to grow,” Cardoso said.
Committees on Diaspora Funds
In addition, Cardoso said the apex bank has set up a committee to facilitate more inflow of diaspora funds into the official FX market.
He said the committee reported directly to him with the sole objective of doubling the inflow of foreign exchange from the international monetary operations (IMTO).
According to him, this committee has begun to yield positive outcome with an increase in inflow from Nigerians in diaspora.
“We’ve had a recognition of the huge role of the Nigerian diasporans play in remitting tremendous amount of money into the system over a period of time.
“We set up a committee which report directly to me with the goal of doubling the amount of foreign exchange inflow coming from the IMTO who service that segment the autonomous players.
“Already, it’s beginning to bring about result. Again, we are confident that with these kinds of measures liquidity will increase in our market,” Cardoso added.
What you should know
In April, Nairametrics reported that Nigeria recorded a total foreign portfolio inflow of N93.37 billion against a foreign outflow of N119.81 billion.
This marks a 415% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
Portfolio inflows refer to the movement of capital into a country’s financial markets from foreign investors.
In addition, the country’s foreign reserve surged its highest in three months in June since March 2024, indicating a massive increase in liquidity in the foreign exchange market.
According to the latest data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the reserves now stand at $33.58 billion as of June 19, 2024.
The rise in FX inflow means there will be sufficient stability in the market and, by extension, the currency which has experienced huge fluctuation since last April.
