The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold $1.64 billion in foreign exchange through the spot market in the first half of 2026, with March accounting for the largest single-month volume of $950.1 million. The figures are contained in the CBN's Q2 2026 Statistical Bulletin.
Monthly data indicate that spot sales rose from $53 million in January to $225.1 million in February before jumping to $950.1 million in March, the highest monthly level recorded in the six-month period. Activity then eased to $100 million in April, climbed to $150 million in May and settled at $159.57 million in June. Sales to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) totalled $20.37 million over the same period.
The March figure represented approximately 58% of all spot sales recorded between January and June. In every other month covered by the bulletin, monthly spot sales remained below $226 million. Across all foreign exchange categories, the CBN reported total sales of about $1.67 billion in the first half of the year.
The first-half performance remains well below the level recorded in 2025, when the CBN reported $8.20 billion in spot sales for the full year. Total foreign exchange sales across all listed categories reached $8.94 billion in 2025, including $716.10 million in interbank forward transactions and $26.35 million in sales to MDAs. Monthly spot sales fluctuated significantly last year, rising to $1.65 billion in April, dropping to $146.70 million in October and recovering to $910.22 million in December. The H1 2026 figure is therefore substantially lower than the full-year 2025 total, though the comparison spans six months against an entire year.
The data arrive against a backdrop of elevated foreign exchange demand. Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria's total foreign exchange demand rose by 91% to $50.93 billion in 2025, the highest level in six years. In the second quarter of 2026, financial services accounted for $9.64 billion, or 52.58%, of total foreign exchange utilisation of $18.34 billion, while portfolio investment increased by 45% to $6.51 billion.
