The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intensified its intervention in the foreign exchange market in August, injecting a total of $586 million to cushion pressure on the naira and stabilize liquidity across the banking sector.
Last week alone, the apex bank carried out two separate interventions, selling $170 million to authorised dealer banks to meet rising dollar demand. The move followed signals that the official exchange rate was facing pressure amid surging requests from corporates seeking to settle foreign obligations.
The Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) witnessed heightened dollar demand, with the naira slipping beyond ₦1,538 per dollar during intraday trading. To mitigate volatility, the CBN released funds in two tranches while maintaining support through its monetary policy tools.
In parallel, the regulator intensified open market operations (OMO), offering attractive rates to lure foreign portfolio inflows. The auctions, which were oversubscribed, resulted in ₦1.19 trillion worth of OMO bills allotted to investors. Market analysts noted that the higher-than-usual rates on the instruments signalled CBN’s aggressive stance on boosting FX inflows.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s gross external reserves rose to $41.27 billion at the end of August 2025, further strengthening the CBN’s firepower to defend the currency amid global headwinds.
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