According to a circular by the apex bank, on Wednesday sold a total of $876.26 million to end users whose bids were submitted by some 26 banks, in its latest attempt to shore up the falling naira.

The circular noted that total bids came to US$1.18bn which was received from 32 authorised dealer banks.

Of this, bids valued at US$876.26 million from 26 banks qualified, while bids valued at US$313.69 million from six banks were disqualified.

The disqualifications were due to four banks submitting bids after the 3:00 PM cutoff time and two banks failing to provide bids in the required template. Additionally, all bids with Form Q and unverifiable Forms A and M on the Trade Portal were disqualified.

The apex bank approved a cut-off rate of N1495/US$ for the Retail Dutch Auction.

It stated that the detailed results and qualified bids will be published on the CBN’s website to ensure transparency.

Settlement for the successful bids is scheduled for Thursday, August 8, 2024.

The sale follows “growing unmet foreign exchange demand” which has “continued to increase the demand pressure in the foreign exchange market, with adverse impact on the exchange rate of the naira,” the CBN said in a circular to lenders last week.

The naira has come under pressure through seasonal demand from summer tourism as well as businesses seeking the greenback to bring in goods in the import-dependent Nigeria.