LAGOS, March 2, 2017 – The central bank of Nigeria said on Thursday it will sell dollars via a book-building process to clear a backlog of dollar demand for companies importing machinery, airline equipment and petroleum products.
Companies would be required to pay the naira equivalent for their dollar bids on the spot market on Thursday, while the dollars will be delivered in two months’ time, the central bank told commercial banks.
It did not say how much it would offer at the sale.
The naira was quoted at 315 on the interbank market on Thursday and had traded only $79,000 by 1235 GMT. On the black market the naira was quoted at 455 per dollar.
