After this year, banks will no longer have access to Foreign Exchange (Forex) from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele informed Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of banks at the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Abuja yesterday.
Emefiele unveiled the RT200 new forex programme with the goal of $200 billion in FX repatriation, exclusively from non-oil exports, over the next 3-5 years.
This will require banks to source forex for their customers.
Emefiele added that the CBN will support the banks by granting rebates and other incentives until they (banks) find their feet.
He also announced that the CBN through its policies and measures had significantly grown diaspora remittances from an average of $6 million per week in December 2020 to an average of over $100 million per week by last month.
Emefiele said: “The banks don’t have a choice. The era is coming to an end because your customer makes $100 million demand for FX, or $200 million and you want to pack all the dollars and pass it to the CBN to give you dollars.
”It is coming to an end because before, or about the latest end of this year, we will tell you don’t come to CBN for FX again, go and fund, generate your export proceeds.”
