JUST IN: Zenith Bank Emerges Top Recipient At CBN’s Latest Forex Auction—-In a recent Retail Dutch Auction System (rDAS) conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on August 6, 2024, Zenith Bank emerged as the top recipient, securing $267.86 million in foreign exchange (forex).
The auction, aimed at alleviating rising demand pressures in the forex market and promoting price discovery, saw the CBN sell a total of $876.26 million to 26 qualified banks at a rate of N1,495 per dollar.
Businesses and individuals in Nigeria have been scrambling for foreign currency amid ongoing economic challenges. A total of 32 banks initially participated in the auction, submitting bids valued at $1.18 billion.
However, six banks were disqualified for failing to meet the submission deadline or for submitting incomplete bid templates.
The remaining 26 banks shared the $876.26 million provided by the CBN, covering approximately 75 per cent of the total bid amount.
The settlement for the successful bids was scheduled for August 8, 2024. This auction marks one of the most significant forex interventions by the CBN under the leadership of Governor Yemi Cardoso, who has been actively working to stabilise the naira and address volatility in the forex market.
Zenith Bank tops the list, securing the highest amount of forex from the CBN at over $267.86 million, followed closely by FirstBank with a successful bid of $228.99 million in forex from the CBN.
Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank by assets, secured $79.09 million in forex with bids ranged from N1,500.00/$1 to N1,635.00/$1, while Fidelity Bank got $43.62 million in forex with bid range of N1,495.00/$1 to N1,595.00/$1.
GTBank got a successful bid of $29.54 million in forex, Standard Chartered Bank, TAJ Bank and Jaiz Bank secured $28.43 million, $19.11 million and $16.71 million respectively.
Sterling Bank and Union Bank got $14.4 million and $13.27 million respectively.
