There was naira scarcity on the interbank market Tuesday, leading the overnight tenor of the Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate (NIBOR) to close at 120.08 percent.
The overnight lending had hit 148 per cent on Monday as news of a Federal High Court ex parte order instructing all Nigerian banks to forfeit all monies held in accounts without bank verification numbers (BVNs) to the federal government in 14 days from the date the order was given, filtered into the market.
The banks were asked to show cause why the monies belonging to companies and individuals should not be forfeited to the federal government 14 days from the date the order was given.
But an analyst at Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ezun, who spoke with THISDAY, attributed the development to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) open market operations as well as its sustained Wholesale Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) auction that requires firms to deposit naira cash before they can purchase dollars.
Ezun, however, expressed optimism that there will be some easing once the monthly funds from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) hits the banking system.
The central bank has kept the benchmark policy rate high in its bid to fight inflation and attract foreign investors. It has also been selling treasury securities almost four times a week to soak up naira liquidity and reduce pressure in the foreign exchange market.
The Chief Executive of Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Mr. Ike Chioke, noted that while last year the economy witnessed illiquidity in the forex market, this year it has experinced illiquidity position in the naira market.
