Financial Marketers Commend CBN As Naira Appreciates To N280 Per U.S Dollar

The naira on Wednesday closed at N304.75 to the dollar at the official interbank market from N305 recorded on Tuesday.

Also, at the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the naira exchanged at N385 to the dollar, while the pound sterling and the Euro traded at N550 and N504, respectively.

Trading at the parallel market saw the naira exchanging at N450, N545 and N495 to the dollar, pound sterling and the Euro, respectively.

However, Traders at the market applauded the Central Bank of Nigeria for licensing additional 20 International Money Transfer Operators (IMTO), saying the decision of the CBN has borne very positive fruits as the naira continues to appreciate at the forex market.

Last Friday, it was also reported that some commercial banks in Nigeria have begun suspending their Automated Teller Machine cards (debit and credit) from working overseas as dollar scarcity continues to hit the economy badly.

Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank on the 14th of October, 2016 announced the suspension of their overseas ATM card services.

The banks, also suspended their online transactions priced in foreign currencies. This means that customers of the banks will no longer be able to use their debit or credit cards to make online transactions that are denominated in dollars, euros, pounds sterling and other foreign currencies.

In a note to its customers on Friday entitled: ‘Suspension of international transactions on naira debit cards’, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria said, “Please be informed that effective immediately, your naira denominated debit cards will no longer be functional for international transactions.