The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sold $876.26 million to end-users whose bids were submitted by 26 banks. In a circular released on Wednesday, the apex bank stated that the move aims to boost the falling naira.
The development comes as the naira faces pressure from seasonal demand due to summer tourism and businesses seeking the US dollar to import goods into the country.
According to the circular, the CBN received total bids worth $1.18 billion from 32 authorized dealer banks. Of these, bids valued at $876.26 million from 26 banks were successful, while bids worth $313.69 million from six banks were disqualified.
The disqualifications resulted from four banks submitting bids after the 3:00 PM cutoff time and two banks failing to provide bids in the required template. Additionally, all bids with Form Q and unverifiable Forms A and M on the Trade Portal were disqualified.
The CBN approved a cut-off rate of ₦1,495/US$ for the Retail Dutch Auction.
The detailed results and qualified bids will be published on the CBN’s website to ensure transparency. Settlement for the successful bids is scheduled for Thursday, August 8, 2024.
The sale follows “growing unmet foreign exchange demand,” which has “continued to increase the demand pressure in the foreign exchange market, with an adverse impact on the exchange rate of the naira,” the Abuja-based Central Bank of Nigeria stated in a circular to lenders last week.
