Between Sept. 6 and 30, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold $543.5 million to authorized dealers to support the country’s volatile currency. Omolara Duke, the bank’s director of financial markets, said in a statement that the CBN sold foreign currency on 11 different occasions at exchange rates ranging from NGN1,530 to NGN1,605 per dollar.

Duke said the CBN injected the most foreign currency into the market on Sept. 26, selling $80 million. Three days earlier, the bank sold the least amount of dollars for the month: $17.5 million.

Commenting on the spot forex sales to approved financial institutions, Duke said:

The FX spot sales were to reduce observed market volatility driven by demand for commodity importation and seasonal demand for FX. The value dates for all the transactions were T+2. The CBN will continue to facilitate the supply of FX into the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) as part of its holistic FX Management strategy.

The CBN’s disclosure of the amount of US dollars injected into the Nigerian market came at a time when the country is grappling with shortages of foreign exchange. The central bank attributes this to a surge in demand for the scarce commodity. To counter this, the Nigerian government has introduced a series of measures including restrictions on the amount of foreign exchange residents can take out of the country.

As recently reported by Bitcoin.com News, Nigeria has contemplated selling crude oil in local currency to ease pressure on the naira. However, recent reports suggested that the scheme is yet to take off due to disagreements over the price.

Nigeria has also introduced measures which restrict activities of global cryptocurrency exchanges as well as raid illegal currency dealers. However, the steps have by and large failed to stabilize the naira which has depreciated by more than 60% in 2024.

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