Azerbaijani banks increase foreign currency purchase

By Trend

The demand of Azerbaijani banks for foreign currency at the auction held on September 23 by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) with the participation of the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) increased, Trend reports via the CBA.

According to the CBA, this indicator amounted to $58 million, up by $5.8 million, or 11.1 percent compared to the previous auction

About $52.2 million were sold to banks at the last auction, the CBA said.

The demand of local banks for the foreign currency was fully satisfied, and according to the results of the auction, the weighted average exchange rate of the manat to the dollar was 1.7 AZN/USD, the CBA reports.

The first in a long time foreign exchange auction with the participation of SOFAZ was held on March 10, 2020, during which Azerbaijani banks purchased $323.2 million.

The CBA has started conducting currency auctions through the unilateral sale of currency in competitive conditions from mid-January 2017. In March 2020, it was decided to hold extraordinary currency auctions in connection with the increased demand of the population for foreign currency due to the failure of the OPEC+ deal, which led to a sharp drop in oil prices.