Yemisi Izuora
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned banks to desist from denying customers access to foreign exchange.
The Apex bank reported that it reliably gathered that some banks are turning back customers that come to purchase BTA/PTA and forex for pilgrimage.
It therefore appealed to bank customers to go straight to their banks to buy forex as the CBN has supplied enough dollars to the Banks to meet needs in the invisibles segment.
“Customers are hereby enjoined to report any bank that refuses to attend to their legitimate demands within 24 hours or call 07002255226“, Isaac Okorafor, Ag. Director, Corporate Communications of CBN said in a statement.
Meanwhile the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made available the sum of $210million, to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the foreign exchange market.
In its quest to meet customers’ needs in the various segments of the market, the CBN offered $100million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got the sum of $55 million. According to figures obtained from the Bank on Wednesday, 23rdMay, 2018, customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.
It will be recalled that the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, during his post-MPC remarks on 22ndMay, 2018 said that the country’s foreign reserve stood at $47.79billion and that pressure on the foreign reserve would be reduced as a result of the recent currency swap between the CBN and the Peoples Bank of China.
Also, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Mr. Isaac Okorafor, reiterated the Bank’s commitment to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability. Mr. Okorafor said that the CBN would sustain its strategic management of forex, with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.
The Bank last Friday, May 18, 2018, intervened to the tune of $293 million to cater for requests in the retail segment of the forex market.
Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N363/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.