The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sold a total of $148 million to authorized dealers.
On Friday, CBN said these transactions, done on July 22 and 23, 2024, are to keep the foreign exchange (FX) market stable.
Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, announced this in Abuja.
She said that CBN sold the foreign exchange to 29 authorized dealer banks at rates between N1,470.00 to N1,510.00 for each $1.
Mrs. Ali also pointed out that transactions done on July 22 and 23, 2024, had value dates of T+0 and T+1, meaning they were settled the same day or the next day.
What the statement says
According to the CBN:
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold a total of US$148,000,000.00 to Authorized Dealers in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) to provide liquidity to the FX market. These transactions were done on July 22 and 23, 2024.
“Announced in Abuja on Friday, July 26, 2024, the Acting Director of the Corporate Communications Department, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, highlighted the transparent operations of the CBN. She revealed that the CBN sold FX to 29 authorized dealer banks at rates between N1470.00/$1 and N1510.00/$1.
“Mrs. Sidi Ali also said that the value dates for all transactions done on July 22 and 23, 2024, were T+0 and T+1 for sales made later in the day.”
The statement also said that CBN would keep working to fill the supply gap and ensure market stability.
Timeline of forex interventions
This latest sale is the third one to authorized FX dealers this month as CBN tries to increase liquidity in the FX market.
Last week, CBN announced
selling $106.5 million as foreign exchange
(FX) to 29 FX dealer banks.
- According to a statement signed by Dr. Omolara Omotunde Duke, Director of the Financial Markets Department, on July 18 and 19, 2024, CBN sold $106.5 million to 29 authorized dealer banks at rates from N1,498/$1 to N1,530.00/$1. They also bought $9.5 million from four authorized dealer banks at rates between N1,510/$1 and N1,550/$1.
-
Two weeks ago, CBN said it sold
$122.67 million to 46 authorized dealers. - CBN also approved the sale of FX to eligible Bureau De Change (BDC) operators for invisible transactions to strengthen the Naira on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
- CBN announced that each BDC would get $20,000 at a rate of N1,450/$1. This rate is the lower band of the trading rate at NFEM from the previous day.
These sales from CBN come at a time when the exchange rate has hit more than N1,600 due to rising demand.