The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday released the sum of $90 million to meet requests for invisibles such as basic travel allowance, personal travel allowance (PTA), medical and school fees. It also on the same day offered a total of $150 million to authorised foreign exchange (forex) dealers in the interbank wholesale auction window.
CBN’s acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures, disclosing that it had adjusted bureau de change (BDC) sale days to Tuesdays only to reduce logistical difficulties. He added that henceforth the apex bank would sell $10,000 only to low-end forex dealers once a week.
According to Mr Okorafor, in a bid to further ease the access of customers, the CBN has also directed all banks to pay cash over the counter to desiring foreign exchange customers.
While urging the banks to oblige the genuine requests of customers, the spokesman advised customers to report any un-cooperating banks to the CBN through available platforms.
It will be recalled that the CBN in the recent months has made offers and releases to the interbank foreign exchange market in its bid to sustain forex rule supply to different categories of users.
Meanwhile, the CBN spokesman expressed optimism that the sum of $150 million offered to authorised forex dealers in the interbank wholesale window to meet the requests of genuine wholesale customers would be fully subscribed at the auction as was the case at the last auction on March 28, 2017.
