Commercial banks are back in the business of foreign currency (dollar) transfer after the Central Bank (CBN) lifted restrictions on such transactions.
The banks can now transfer foreign currency in customers’ domiciliary accounts to their local and international business partners subject to a daily cumulative limit of $10,000.
Violation attracts regulatory sanctions.
Confirming the policy shift yesterday to The Nation, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spokesman, Ibrahim Mu’azu, said the apex bank decided to reverse the policy because its finding showed that currency substitution by customers which made it enforce it in the first place has been tackled.
According to him, bank customers before now were converting naira to dollar and depositing the proceeds in the hope that the dollar would continue to appreciate at the parallel and official markets. He said stability has now returned to the market despite the volatility in the parallel market rate with the naira exchanging for over N300 to one dollar.
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