Rising dollar inflows through the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) Forex Window and foreign reserves accretion have stabilised the naira in the official and parallel markets.
The I&E Forex Window has attracted $48 billion to the economy in 24 months, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed in its updated report on the dollar inflows.
The report also showed that foreign reserves have risen to $45 billion.
With improved availability of foreign exchange, the exchange rate at the I&E Forex window has remained stable over the past two years at an average of N360/$, and the parallel market exchange rate has appreciated from N525/$ in February 2017 to N360/$ at present.
Not many investors – local and international – gave the I&E Forex window any chance to succeed when it was introduced.
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But today, it is seen as one of the key instruments expected to help stabilise the local currency against other currencies.
Prior to the introduction of the I&E Forex window in April 2017 by the CBN, the market and exchange rates were in turmoil. But, in a dramatic turn of events, the acute shortage of forex, which businesses and individuals grappled with, improved, with banks and Bureaux de Change (BDCs) now desperately looking for forex buyers.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said the introduction of the window, along with improvement in domestic production of goods have helped shore up the external reserves.
“Transactions have reached over $48 billion since the inception of the window and our foreign exchange reserves has risen to $45 billion in April 2019 from $23 billion in October 2016. Nigeria’s current stock of external reserves is now able to finance over nine months of current import commitments,” the report said.