The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it sold a total of $876.26 million to end users through 26 successful banks, with a cut-off rate set at N1495 per dollar. This sale marks the beginning of the bank’s latest Retail Dutch Auction System.
In a statement released on Wednesday, signed by Omolara Duke, the Director of the Financial Markets Department, the CBN revealed that total bids amounted to $1.18 billion from 32 authorized dealer banks.
The CBN emphasized that while 26 banks successfully submitted bids for foreign exchange, six banks were disqualified for failing to meet the deadline and other requirements.
“The Bank approved a cut-off rate of N1495/US$ for the Retail Dutch Auction, with bids totaling $876.26 million from 26 banks qualifying. Conversely, bids worth $313.69 million from six banks were disqualified. Among the disqualified bids, four banks submitted their bids after the cut-off time of 3:00 PM, while two banks failed to provide bids in the required template. Additionally, all bids with Form Q and unverifiable Form A and Form M on the Trade Portal were disqualified,” the statement noted.
It is worth mentioning that on Wednesday, the CBN announced the launch of the Retail Dutch Auction System in response to a surge in demand for dollars. On Tuesday, the Naira experienced two consecutive gains against the dollar, closing at N1601.
