The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Deposit Money
Banks (DMBs) to set up teller points to meet legitimate foreign exchange (FX)
demands.
This development comes after the apex bank halted the sales
of FX to Bureaux De Change (BDCs) operators.
At the end of the CBN monetary policy committee meeting in Abuja
on Tuesday, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, accused BDC operators
of turning away from their objectives.
He also alleged that the BDC operators have become conduits
for illegal financial flows working with corrupt people to conduct money laundering
in Nigeria.
CBN said it will continue to channel weekly allocations of
dollar sales to commercial banks to meet legitimate FX demands.
In a circular on Wednesday, Haruna Mustapha, CBN director of
banking supervision, noted that banks should carry out adequate publicity for
the location of designated branches.
“Further to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing of
July 27, 2021, all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are hereby reminded to set up
teller points at designated branches across the country to fulfil legitimate FX
requests for Personal Travel Allowance, (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA),
tuition fees, medical payments. SMEs transactions, amongst others,” the
circular reads.
“In this regard, DMBs are also required to adequately
publicize the locations of the designated branches and make necessary
arrangements to sell FX to customers in cash and/or electronically in
compliance with extant regulations.”
CBN also warned banks to ensure that “no customer is turned
back or refused FX provided that documentation and other requirements are
satisfied”.
It said undue delays should be avoided while alert systems
are required to update customers of their request status.
The apex bank added that monitoring mechanisms have been
established to ensure that banks that violate the directive are sanctioned.
“Equally, undue delays, rationing and/or diversion of FX is
strongly discouraged whilst DMBs are required to establish electronic
application and alert systems to update customers on the status of their FX
requests,” the statement added.
“As communicated during the briefing, a toll-free line has
been set up at the CBN for bank customers to escalate unresolved complaints
related to their FX requests.
“The CBN will continue to closely monitor banks’ conduct and
compliance with this directive to ensure an efficient FX market for all
legitimate users. Please note that any breach of the directive will be severely
sanctioned.”
On Wednesday, the naira weakened to N525 per dollar at the
black market and traded moderately at N411.60 at the importer & exporter
(I&E) window.
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