Despite the shortage of foreign exchange
in the country and continuing slide of the naira on the parallel market,
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thuesday announced the federal
government’s approval of N197 to the dollar for intending pilgrims
travelling for the 2016 hajj in Saudi Arabia.
The naira shed N10 yesterday to close at N400 to the dollar, compared to N390 to the dollar from the previous day.
The naira also fell on the interbank
market closing at N315.06 to the dollar, lower than N311.03 to the
dollar from the previous day.
The central bank, in a circular addressed
to all authorised dealers and the general public, said each intending
pilgrims would be entitled to purchase a minimum of $750 and maximum of
$1,000 as Pilgrim Travelling Allowance (PTA).
“No commission shall be charged by the
banks for the sale of PTA to the intending pilgrims. The CBN shall sell
the PTA to the designated banks in Lagos and Abuja and the accounts of
the respective banks shall be debited as soon as the funds are
disbursed.
“Each designated bank is required to sell
to the CBN the unutilised funds not later than two weeks from the date
of the last inward flight to Nigeria from Jedda, while the account of
the bank shall be credited promptly,” it said in the circular.
Commenting on the naira pressure on the
parallel market yesterday, the President, Association of Bureau de
Change (BDC) Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe,
expressed optimism that the naira would rebound once banks that are
agents to approved international money transfer operators start to sell
foreign currencies accruing from remittances to licensed BDCs.
“Banks started selling FX to BDCs today
(Thursday) and hopefully we expect to see an increase in dollar
liquidity for BDCs. This is expected to impact positively on activities
of BDCs and help correct what we are seeing on the parallel market,”
Gwadabe said in a phone interview yesterday.
The CBN gave the directive for banks to sell FX from remittances to BDCs last month.
However, it remains uncertain how much foreign remittances will ease the pressure on the parallel market in the face of the subsisting CBN ban on 41 items from accessing FX from the interbank market.
However, it remains uncertain how much foreign remittances will ease the pressure on the parallel market in the face of the subsisting CBN ban on 41 items from accessing FX from the interbank market.
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