Players in the retail segment of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market received a $254.3 million boost from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday following bids received from foreign exchange dealers by the apex bank.

Information obtained from the CBN on Friday 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 theforeign exchangesales, 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, July 5, 2017.

He disclosed that the $254.3m sold was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industry.

He recalled that that the Bank, at its last intervention in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) on June 23, 2017, injected a total of $240 million for spot and forward deals, just as it intervened with $390 million in the wholesale, SMEs and invisibles segments of the market on June 28 and July 3, 2017.

Okorafor said the CBN remained committed to ensuring that all the sectors continue to enjoy access to the foreign exchange required for their business concerns.

Meanwhile, the Naira, on Friday exchanged at an average of N364/$1 in the Bureau de Change segment (BDCs) across major trading points in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.