Tag: Forex

CBN Grants Banks Authority to Trade Foreign Exchange Freely
Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria, Trade

CBN Grants Banks Authority to Trade Foreign Exchange Freely

In a significant development, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued authorization to commercial banks, allowing them to engage in the unrestricted trading of foreign exchange at market-determined rates. This move effectively empowers banks to sell forex based on prevailing market rates, marking a departure from the previous tightly controlled exchange rate system. Notably, some banks have already set the USD to Naira rate within the range of N699 to N750, indicating that Nigeria is transitioning towards a freely floating exchange rate regime, aligning with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's commitment to unifying the country's exchange rates. In response to this development, Dr. Andrew Nevin, the Advisory Partner & Chief Economist of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), shared his in...
Banks in Nigeria to Restrict Debit Card Spending Abroad to Reduce FX Risk
Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Banks in Nigeria to Restrict Debit Card Spending Abroad to Reduce FX Risk

Banks in Nigeria are set to reduce the amount of money which customers abroad can spend using debit cards starting on Monday, as banks attempt to reduce foreign currency settlement risk.   This was revealed by lenders. The quick fall in the price of crude oil which forms bulk of Nigeria’s export has caused dollar scarcity in the country forcing banks to make effort to evade transactions with hard currency.   The local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank in Nigeria, Standard IBTC Bank has revealed that from Monday, it will reduce to half the original spending limit for offshore card transactions to $500 per month, while withdrawals will be reduced to $100.   Zenith Bank equally said the use of debit cards abroad for cash withdrawals will be temporarily be p...