The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday, provided $340 million and 69 million Chinese Yuan (CNY) to customers seeking foriegn exchange in the agricultural and raw material sector.
The acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said the sales in the Chinese Yuan was done through a combination of spot and 15-day tenor.
He said the Chinese Yuan was made available only to customers with Renminbi denominated Letters of Credit for agriculture as well as raw materials and machinery.
Okorafor said the availability of Renminbi would eventually ease pressure on the Nigerian foreign exchange market.
He attributed the current stability in the foreign exchange market to the continued intervention of the CBN as well as the sustained increase in crude oil prices in the international market.
The apex bank remained committed to ensuring all sectors continued to enjoy access to foreign exchange required for business, whether in US dollars or Chinese Yuan, the CBN spokesman said in a statement.
It will be recalled that the CBN on July 20, announced the commencement of its intervention in the sale of foreign exchange in CNY.
The sales marked the commencement of the Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement (BCSA) signed with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on April 27, 2018.
The statement announcing the flag-off of the sale had explained that there would be no predetermined spread on the sale of Foriegn Exchange Forwards by authorised dealers to end-users under the special sales window.
Also, authorised Dealers would be allowed to earn not more than 50 kobo per CNY on a customers’ bids.
Meanwhile, a dollar exchanged for N360 at the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market, while one CNY exchanged for N53.35.