Interbank, BDC Rate Gap Drops to 23%

• Interbank, BDC Rate Gap Drops to 23%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) backed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members have lauded the convergence of foreign exchange rates, including the drop in the gap between the interbank rate and the bureau de change (BDC) from 150 per cent to 23 per cent.

They also said that a margin of five per cent was sustainable in most jurisdictions. The BDC rate closed on Friday at N370/$1 while the interbank rate stood at around N316/$1.

Also, players in the retail segment of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market had on Friday received a $254.3 million boost from the CBN. It said release of the fund followed bids received from forex dealers by the apex bank.

Information obtained from the CBN indicates that the deals in the retail window represent requests from the various sectors in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), thereby providing a boost to the respective sectors.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the forex sales, explained that the sale was in response to bids received from authorised dealers, on behalf of their customers, at the retail auction announced by the CBN on Wednesday.