The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday increased the maximum amount that would be sold to Bureau De Change, BDCs operator from $30,000 to $50,000 per week. Also, the apex bank plans to release special intervention funds for Agric and Manufacturing.
This decisions was reached at the Bankers’ Committee meeting, which was held in CBN Headquarters Abuja today (August 16, 2016).
The Director, Banking Supervision Department, CBN, Mrs Tokunbo Martins disclosed that apart from increasing forex limits to BDC, decision was also taken to start disbursing the special intervention fund to support primary agricultural projects and core manufacturing.
In her words; “the CBN took from the bank’s cash reserves called the special intervention fund, that fund has been with the CBN for some time.”
This special intervention fund would be for projects that support import substitution, projects that will help protect foreign exchange such that whatever we were importing before can be manufactured.
Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, Managing Director, United Bank for Africa, while addressing the dollar sales to BDCs, said the move was informed by the fact that Nigeria is in a period where a lot of dollar would be needed to meet financial obligations of overseas students. He added that it was imperative to also increase the weekly sale of dollars to BDCs in order to meet the rising demand of those traveling abroad for business trips.
Members of the bankers’ committee pointed out that the decision increase the amount that BDCs can purchase from banks the was not a reversal of earlier decision but a tweaking of the earlier decision because the country is battle a dollar crisis. They urged BDCs to approach banks and apply for foreign exchange.
CBN Spokesperson, Mr Isaac Okorafor stressed that the apex bank will now have to monitor strictly that people do not abuse the process.
In his own speech, Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo said in keeping with the coming celebration of World Savings Day, all banks in Nigeria will break into different groups to cover all the Local Government Areas in the country to sensitise those at the grassroots on the need for people to save massively.
Amangbo added that the sensitisation of the grassroots by all banks “is to grow the pool of funds available for lending and the need to save.”
He noted that “there will always be disparity in savings and interest rate stressing that the gap is not as wide as people think it is and the longer people save the more interest they will earn.”
On the recent directive by the CBN to all banks to open savings account with zero amount, Amangbo said the decision was new and has been in effect for about two years now. According to him, “there are lots of accounts that can be opened with minimal documentation.”
On the need to have bank branches in all the nooks and cranny of the country, Amangbo said “you don’t need brick and mortar branches anymore because mobile apps are now game changers as a result there is no need to have beaches in Local Government Areas (LGAs).