CBN reacts to purported sale of FX to BDCs at N1,300 per dollar

• This comes as the Naira has appreciated significantly in the past seven days against the dollar at the FX market

The Central Bank of Nigeria has reacted to viral circular on sales of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators in the country.

The circular dated Tuesday, 10 December, had purported that the apex bank sold $20,000 to each legible BDC operator at N1,300 per dollar rate.

“Following the ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, aimed at achieving an appropriate market-determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued price distortions at the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium,” the fake circular reads.

However, CBN, in its official X account on Wednesday, the apex bank debunked the claims, describing the circular as fake.

This comes as the Naira has appreciated significantly in the past seven days against the dollar at the FX market after CBN introduced the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) for transparent FX transactions.

Although in the past two days, the Naira had depreciated at the black market to N1660 per dollar, the country’s currency gained against the dollar on Tuesday at the official market to close at N1,525.

The last time CBN intervened in the black market was in September 2024 when it sold FX at N1590 per dollar to BDC operators.