Nigerian Economy Records $1.5bn Inflow Post – CBN MPC

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the inflow of over $1.5 billion into the economy over the past few days indicates that its monetary policy efforts are working positively. 

The bank’s acting director of corporate communications department, Mrs Hakama Ali, made the assertion in a statement issued on Friday. She said data available to the bank indicated that the inflows resulted from the bank’s concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.

Mrs Ali said the Naira has also continued to record gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market as it traded at N1,309/$1 as against N1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.

She said Thursday’s rate signifies that the Naira was headed in the right direction, assuring that the Olayemi Cardoso-led CBN would remain committed to ensuring the stability of the market and the appropriate pricing of the Naira against other major currencies worldwide.

The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced a two-percent increase in its benchmark rate from 22.75 percent to 24.75 percent on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. 

The development comes on the heels of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement of a 200 basis points increase in its benchmark rate, from 22.75 per cent in February to 24.75 per cent on March 26, 2024, amounting to a record 600 bps in one month.

The move, according to experts, is aimed at stemming the tide of the inflationary trend which reached a record at 31.7 in February while assuring investors of a viable and sustainable economic environment.