CBN to auction $100m in currency forwards

The Central of Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Monday it will auction $100 million in forward contracts after selling the U.S. currency last week to boost dollar liquidity and help close the gap between the official and black market exchange rates.

The bank sold $370 million in 60-day contracts last Monday while the result of another $230 million forward auction held last week is yet to be released.

The naira traded at around 305.50 on the interbank market after the bank intervened with $1.5 million on Monday. On the black market, the currency was quoted at 460 per dollar.