CBN Dollar Sales Jump 58% To $9.22bn In First Half, 2022

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), dollar sales into the inter-bank foreign exchange (FX) market surged by 58%, in the first half (H1) of 2022, compared to the earlier H1, 2021 period, as the regulator sustained its intervention in the FX market.

A total of $9.22 billion was sold at the foreign exchange market in H1, 2022, to enhance supply, moderate demand pressures and ensure exchange rate stability, according to the latest CBN data.

The intervention were made through sales for invisibles, small and medium enterprises and at the Investors’ & Exporters’ window and interbank secondary market intervention sales.

The FX sales comprised spot sales worth $4.389 billion or 47.57 per cent and forwards sales of $4.83 billion or 52.43 per cent.

A breakdown of the spot sales indicated that $2.07 billion or 47.28 per cent was sold at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, $856.81 million or 19.52 per cent for invisibles, $834.74 million or 19.01 per cent for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and inter-bank Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) accounted for $622.92 million or 14.19 per cent.

Conversely, the Bank purchased $1.32 billion during the review period, which resulted in a net sale of $7.90 billion. The Bank made purchases from autonomous sources, particularly from the oil producing and servicing companies.

In addition, the sum of $7 billion matured at the forwards segment, while $5.8 billion was outstanding at End-June 2022.

In the corresponding period of 2021, CBN FX sales amounted to $5.83 billion, comprising spot and forward sales in the sum of $2.88 billion or 49.41 per cent and $2.95 billion or 50.59 per cent, respectively.

The composition of spot sales was made up by $1.37 billion or 47.72 per cent at the I&E window, $734.38 million or 25.49 per cent for SMEs, $435.06 million or 15.09 per cent at the inter-bank SMIS and $337.00 million or 11.70 per cent for invisibles.

In the same period, the Bank purchased $900.19 million, resulting in a net sale of $4.93 billi