THE Central Bank of Nigeria has said it has no plans to restrict dollar supplies to interbank foreign exchange market.
Deputy Governor of CBN, Sarah Alade gave this indication recently after rumours that the apex told commercial lenders at a meeting last week that it plans to cut dollar supplies to the market because it is running short of reserves, according to a person who attended the talks.
A foreign media had reported last week that Alade told treasurers of the country’s banks at the meeting in Lagos on November 13 that they should prepare for exchange-rate policies to remain in place for longer and that there are no plans to devalue the naira or to loosen currency-trading restrictions, according to the person, who asked not to be identified as the talks were private.
The central bank will only sell as many dollars to banks or currency-dealers as it receives from oil exports, which amounts to about $1 billion a month, the person was quoted by Bloomberg as stating.
However, Alade confirmed that there was a meeting with bank treasurers last week during which strategy was discussed and informed them that the focus of the central bank was to improve lending to the real sector.
She said: “I do not know where Bloomberg got their story from. I never said that the central bank will reduce dollar supply to the market. This was our usual quarterly meeting with treasurers and we focused primarily on strategy and improved lending to the real sector.”