As part of measures to reduce pressure on the nation’s foreign reserves,The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has stopped the sale of foreign exchange to Bureau de Change.
As the new policy shift was being announced, yesterday, the national currency, Naira, completely reversed its Christmas gains, hitting a new low value of N283/USD1 in BDCs and the parallel markets. The currency had gained from low business cycle of Yuletide and informal supplies from returning Nigerians, appreciating to N265/$1.0 against N281/$1.0 it recorded in the middle of last month.The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who announced the policy change in Abuja, yesterday, said BDCs are now to source forex from the autonomous market.
The apex bank Governor, Mr Emefiele said BDCs operators who cannot cope with the new regulation had the option of turning in their licences to collect their N35 million cautionary deposits with the CBN.
On foreign currency deposits, Emefiele said: “The bank would now permit commercial banks in the country to begin accepting cash deposits of foreign exchange from their customers.”According to the governor, the policy objectives for banning the foreign currency deposits have been achieved.
He further explained that CBN put the policy in place because it discovered that speculators were withdrawing their Naira deposits and using same to buy up foreign currencies and then depositing same in banks and waiting to change the same at higher rates.
Excepts from Vanguard
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