Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has advised travellers against accepting dollars being sold to them for anything above N360 per dollar.
He spoke in Abuja on Monday when he paid unexpected visits to some banks to monitor compliance with the CBN directive to Deposit Money Banks to make foreign exchange (FX) available to travellers irrespective of what bank the customer patronizes.
In his stop at First Bank and Zenith bank branches, Mr Emefiele spoke to staff at the two banks to know if they were complying with the new directive. At Zenith bank he spoke to Umar Ahmed, Executive Director Northern Operations, who told the governor that customers are being served, irrespective of their banks, once they have eligible proof and documentation.
After his impromptu inspection, the governor said he was satisfied with the level of compliance from the banks and noted that he would have wished to see more people queuing for their FX needs. He said that all that is required by customers are; travel ticket, valid visa and passport, with which banks are under obligation to give Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).
In order to ensure that eligible travellers are able to access foreign exchange and thwart speculators putting pressure on the exchange rate, the CBN at the weekend directed all banks to buy and sell FX to travellers (customers and non-customers) upon presentation of the relevant, valid travel documents.
It also directed Bureau de Change (BDC) operators to access the FX window of the apex bank on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, warning that those who fail to do so risk having their licenses revoked and were subsequently replaced by other operators.
The CBN said it is doing everything it can to stop banks and BDCs from hoarding dollars, which destabilizes markets. The apex bank said it was liquid enough to defend the naira.
The Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria has however rejected the directive, as they say, the CBN needs to unify rates at which it sells dollars to both the BDCs and commercial banks. It also said the CBN should pay BDCs disbursement fees in accordance with best practices around the world.
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