CBN boosts FX interventions to $953m as demand rebounds

The Central Bank of Nigeria sharply increased its foreign exchange interventions in March 2026, supplying $953.41m to the market, indicating a renewed effort to support liquidity after weak sales in the opening months of the year.

Figures from the CBN’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin showed that March recorded the highest level of FX sales since April 2025, when interventions reached $1.65bn.

The March supply represented a steep recovery from the $244.13m sold in February and the $58.93m reported in January, highlighting a significant turnaround in the CBN’s market activity. Compared with February, FX sales increased by about 291 per cent, while March’s figure was more than 16 times the January level.

A breakdown of the data showed that spot market transactions accounted for the bulk of interventions, with $950.10m sold through this channel, while an additional $3.31m was allocated to Ministries, Departments and Agenci

The latest figures underscore changing patterns in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, where the central bank now plays a less dominant role than in previous years as private-sector inflows gain prominence.

FX interventions had remained below $800m for much of 2026 after peaking at $1.65bn in April. Sales fell to $838.93m in May, $676.31m in June, and dropped further to $399.80m in September and $150.10m in October before rebounding towards the end of the year.

The first two months of 2026 saw interventions slow, suggesting that the CBN relied more on autonomous market flows before returning to larger spot market sales in March.

Analysts say the rise in autonomous dollar inflows following exchange rate reforms has reduced the need for persistent CBN interventions, although periodic sales remain necessary to manage liquidity and support orderly market functioning.

Nigeria’s FX market has undergone significant changes since the unification of exchange rates in 2023. Data show that autonomous inflows, driven by exporters, investors and other private-sector participants, contributed the majority of FX entering the formal market in 2025.

The March intervention suggests that while private inflows increasingly drive market activity, the CBN continues to play a strategic role in smoothing liquidity conditions when demand pressures emerge.