KABUL, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's central bank has announced it will put on auction 18 million U.S. dollars on Tuesday in a bid to maintain the stability of the national currency the afghani.

"The bidders including moneychangers and private banks should deposit the necessary money in cash in the form of afghani in the central bank -- Da Afghanistan Bank," the central bank said in a statement posted on its X account.

The afghani has been swelling against foreign currencies, especially the U.S. dollar, with the exchange rate of one U.S. dollar having dropped from 73 afghanis in February to 71.5 afghanis in March.

The Afghan central bank also auctioned 17 million dollars on Saturday in order to keep the afghani strong.