The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has raised the volume of foreign exchange sales to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) category businesses by 31 percent in the first seven months of this year (January to July 2021).
A total of $867.68 million was sold to the SMEs during the period, as against $660.9 million in the corresponding period of 2020.
However, in March 2020 the apex bank suspended sales of forex to SMEs due to the COVID-19 induced economic lockdown.
In the review period of 2021, CBN made the highest sales of forex amounting $153.58 million to SMEs in June. This was higher by 47 percent when compared to $104.2 million sold in the corresponding period of 2020.