In a move aimed at easing demand pressure in the foreign exchange (FX) market and promoting price discovery, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sold $876.26 million at a rate of N1,495/$1 to 26 qualified banks through its latest Retail Dutch Auction.
The auction, held on August 6, 2024, received a total of $1.18 billion in bids from 32 dealer banks.
However, six banks were disqualified from the auction—four for missing the submission deadline and two for failing to provide the required bids in their templates. This means that about 75% of the total bid amount was supplied by the CBN.
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The details of the auction were disclosed in a statement by Dr. Omolara Omotunde Duke, Director of the Financial Markets Department at the CBN.
The statement highlighted the procedures followed, including the requirement for banks to submit detailed templates of outstanding FX demand from customers by the 3:00 PM deadline on August 6.
The settlement for successful bids is scheduled for August 8, 2024, with accounts of end users to be funded with the naira equivalent by August 7.
The CBN emphasized that the auction was conducted to boost FX liquidity and ensure transparency, with plans to publish the total bids and qualified bids on its website.