LAGOS: Nigeria's central bank has sold $3.5 billion on the forward market after it auctioned $532 million and intervened on the interbank market on Monday to clear backlog of currency demand as it lifted its peg on the currency.

The bank sold $697 million in one-month forward, $1.22 billion in two-month contract and $1.57 billion due in three months, in order to clear a backlog of $4.02 billion of demand, market operator FMDQ Securities Exchange said.

The naira opened 1.4 percent weaker at 286 to the dollar on Tuesday, with $2 million traded. It had tumbled 30 percent to 282 naira on Monday.

Copyright Reuters, 2016