Naira Rebounds As Banks Offload Excess Dollars

The rebound of the naira may not be unconnected with the 24 hours deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria to commercial banks to sell all excess foreign exchange holdings.

Ahead of the midnight February 1, 2024 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria to commercial banks to sell all excess foreign exchange holdings, Deposit Money Banks on Thursday made frantic efforts to offload their surplus dollar stocks.

The CBN had directed DMBs to sell their excess dollar stocks by February 1, 2024, in a circular that was released on Wednesday, as part of its ongoing efforts to stabilize the country's unstable exchange rate. Lenders were also cautioned by the CBN not to hoard excess foreign currency for financial gain.

A number of banks sold foreign exchange to their clients on Thursday in accordance with the most recent CBN directive, which aims to harmonize the local unit's official and parallel market rates.

It was learnt that the treasury departments of the DMBs spent the entire day battling to sell their excess FX holdings. Officials processed several foreign exchange request forms of their customers as they sold more dollars to them.

The increase in the level of forex sale activities at the official foreign exchange market, it was learnt, led to the rebound of the naira at the parallel market on Thursday.