Olufemi Adeyemi 


The Central Bank of Nigeria has conducted an auction, distributing a total of $876.26 million to 26 eligible banks that participated in the recent Retail Dutch Auction System organized by the apex bank.

This auction, held on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, was designed to improve foreign exchange liquidity in the market, reduce demand pressures, and facilitate price discovery in accordance with the central bank's objectives.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) communicated this information in a statement released on its website on Wednesday, which was signed by Omolara Omofunde Duke, the Director of the Financial Markets Department.

In detailing the auction process, the director noted that a total bid amounting to $1.18 billion was submitted by 32 authorized dealer banks, while bids totaling $313.69 million from six banks were disqualified.

Among the disqualified bids, four banks submitted their offers after the designated cut-off time of 3:00 PM, and two banks failed to adhere to the required bid template.

The statement indicated, "A total bid valued at US$1.18 billion was received from 32 Authorized Dealers Banks, of which bids valued at US$876.26 million from 26 banks qualified, while bids valued at US$313.69 million from six banks were disqualified."

Last week, the CBN announced its intention to implement a Retail Dutch Auction System to tackle the increasing unmet foreign exchange demand from end users.

The objective is to ease the escalating pressures in the foreign exchange market and stabilize the exchange rate of the naira, which has fluctuated between N1,450 and N1,600 in recent months. The bank has set a cut-off rate of N1495/$ for the Retail Dutch Auction