FOREX: CBN Sanctions First Bank, GTB, 13 Others For Frustrating SMEs

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Tuesday barred about 15 commercial banks from dealing in the foreign exchange market after failing to sell special forex intervention funds of $100 million allocated to them.

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Spokesperson to the apex bank, Isaac Okorafor, said the decision followed numerous complaints from business owners, who claim the banks are deliberately frustrating their efforts to access foreign exchange through the new window.

Mr. Okoroafor said the apex bank carried out field monitoring reports, which found that eight of the banks complied with the rules.

He said the CBN frowned at the action of the banks that refused to sell foreign exchange to SMEs to enable them import eligible finished and semi-finished items, despite the availability of forex from the CBN wholesale intervention window.

“All banks that had refused to sell FOREX to the SME actors after accessing over $300 million offered to the SMEs wholesale forex window since its creation last month will be sanctioned accordingly,” the spokesman said.

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“We are confident that the continued interventions by the CBN will continue to guarantee stability in the market and ensure availability to individuals and business concerns,” Mr Okorafor said.

According to him, the Central Bank will not sit back and allow any form of instability in the interbank forex market through the actions of institutions or individuals.

The CBN continued its intervention in the foreign exchange segment of the financial market by injecting a total of $196.2 million into the various segments on Tuesday.

A breakdown of the other interventions indicated that about $52 million was made available to the SMEs segment, while Personal/Basic Travel allowances as well as allocations for medicals and tuition fees received $44.2 million.

The 15 banks sanctioned, according to the Premium TImes includes, Citibank, Ecobank, Enterprise Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Key Stone Bank, MainStreet Bank, Skye Bank,
Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, SunTrust Bank, Union Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, and Wema Bank.

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The banks found not culpable include Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank, Zenith Bank and Jaiz Bank.

The source said these were the banks that have been allowed to sell forex to the SMEs segment since the inception of the new window.

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