Amaka Obiefuna.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday sustained the supply of foreign exchange to the market by releasing 195 million dollars.

The CBN acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, who gave a breakdown of the release, said 150 million dollars of the amount was released through wholesale auction.

He said the remaining 45 million dollars was for medicals, tuition, Personal and Business Travel Allowance.

Okorafor said that the Bank acted promptly and proactively in line with its promise to keep the market liquid enough to meet the needs of genuine requests.

He said that banks were becoming saturated with foreign exchange, as most of them were now able to meet demands for foreign exchange within the stipulated time frame.

“As you can see, all the pent-up demand for invisibles have been met to the extent that banks are urging customers to come and obtain forex,” he said.

Okorafor reiterated the bank’s determination to continue to fund the importation of raw materials, plants and machinery for manufacturing, agriculture, and other eligible items.

He also assured that the apex bank remained resolute in ensuring stability in the forex market by keeping an eye on the activities of authorized dealers in order to ensure sharp practices were reduced to the barest minimum.

It will be recalled that the CBN had in the past two weeks released over 1.2 billion dollars into the foreign exchange market to stem liquidity challenges faced by businesses and individuals.

Last week, the regulator released 170 million dollars into the foreign exchange market, as foreign reserves hit 30 billion dollars.