THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to set up teller points in designated branches to facilitate the sale of foreign exchange (forex) to Nigerians.
This was contained in a statement issued by the CBN Director of Bank Supervision Haruna Mustafa on Thursday.
Mustafa said the directive was a sequel to an earlier decision of the discontinuing the sales of forex to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country.
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“This is to fulfil legitimate FX requests for Personal Travel Allowance, Business Travel Allowance, tuition fees, medical payments and SMEs transactions, among others,” he said.
“In this regard, DMBs are also required to adequately publicise 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,” he said.
Mustafa further advised DMBs to ensure that no customer was turned back or refused FX provided that documentation and all other requirements were satisfied.
“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,” he added.
He explained that a toll-free line had been set up at the CBN for bank customers to escalate unresolved complaints related to their FX requests.
Mustafa said that the CBN would continue to closely monitor banks’ conducts and compliance with the directive in order to ensure an efficient FX market for all legitimate users.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele had announced at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee’s meeting in Abuja on Tuesday the decision of the apex bank to discontinue sales of forex to BDCs. He said the BDCs were dollarising the economy.
He also accused the operators of aiding money laundering and illegal financial inflows.
Emefiele added that evidence abounded that several international organisations and embassies patronised BDCs through illegal FX dealers to fund their institutions.
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