The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has barred at least 12
deposit money banks (DMB) from the SME window of the foreign exchange
market for flouting regulations, as it relates to small businesses.
A
senior official of the CBN told TheCable that the financial regulator
took the decision to bar the erring banks based on field reports, which
revealed that only eight banks had sold forex to the SMEs.
Isaac
Okorafor, the CBN spokesman confirmed the development, stating that the
banks were barred for refusing to sell forex to the SME actors after
accessing over $300 million offered to them via the SMEs wholesale forex
window since its creation in April.
He said only Access Bank Plc,
Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank, Jaiz Bank, Sterling
Bank, Unity Bank and Zenith Bank, sold forex to SMEs.
He warned
that the CBN would not sit back and allow any form of instability in the
interbank forex market through the actions of institutions or
individuals.
He therefore urged all stakeholders to play by the rules for the benefit of the entire country and its economy.
Meanwhile,
the CBN continued its massive intervention in the foreign exchange
segment of the financial market by injecting a total of $196.2 million
into the various segments of the forex market on Tuesday.
According
to Okorafor, the apex bank offered the sum of the $100 million to
authorized dealers at Tuesday’s forex wholesale auction, and $52 million
at the SME segment, while invisibles such travel allowances, medicals
and tuition received $44.2 million.
Source: TheCable.ng
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
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