UPDATE: CBN auctions $876m to 26 banks, disqualifies six

Central Bank of Nigeria building
The Central Bank of Nigeria has auctioned a total sum of $876.26m to 26 qualified banks, who participated in the latest Retail Dutch Auction System undertaken by the apex bank.

The auction process conducted on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, aimed to enhance FX liquidity in the market, alleviate demand pressure, and support price discovery in alignment with the apex bank’s objectives.

The CBN said this in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday. It was signed by the Director, Financial Markets Department, Omolara Omofunde Duke.

Explaining the auction process, the director said a total bid valued at $1.18bn was received from 32 authorized dealers banks while bids valued at $313.69m from six banks were disqualified.

Of the disqualified bids. four banks submitted their bids after the cut-off time of 3:00 pm, while two banks did not provide bids in the template submitted.

The statement read, “A total bid valued at US$1.18bn was received from 32 Authorized Dealers Banks, of which, bids valued at US$876.26m from 26 banks qualified, while bids valued at US$313.69m from six banks were disqualified.”

Last week, the CBN unveiled plans to implement a Retail Dutch Auction System to address the mounting unmet foreign exchange demand from end users.

It said the aim was to alleviate the growing pressure in the FX market and stabilize the naira’s exchange rate.

The naira has traded within the range of N1,450 and N1,600 in recent months.

However, the bank approved a cut-off rate of N1495/$ for the Retail Dutch Auction