Now you can get Nigerian Naira at N360 per dollar at any bank, here's how

Nigeria's central bank has advised travelers and other eligible forex users to pay N360 to a dollar at any commercial banks across the country.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also commenced the monitoring of deposit money banks to ensure their compliance with the regulations of foreign exchange (FX) market.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, who led a team of management staff to monitor Over-the-Counter (OTC) sales of forex by banks to users irrespective of whether they are account holders or not.

Emefiele said, “We have issued a directive that all banks are mandated to sell basic transport allowance (BTA) to anybody that walks into their banks. It is deliberate. Whether he is a customer of the bank or not, he should get forex. It is the bank’s primary responsibility to provide currency for travelers out of the country."

Also READ: From June 2018, you can only make N100,000 transaction per day on USSD channels

He said the banks have enough foreign currencies and that people should not have a problem getting foreign exchange, stressing that customers should access forex at designated PTA/BTA stands or Bureau de Change (BDCs).

“Customers are advised to pay N360 to a dollar. That is the essence of this visit. It is symbolic that I see for myself and we will also be talking to the management of the banks,” he added.

How to get dollar at N360 for BTA/PTA

1. Tender your passport, visa and return ticket.

2. You are not expected to just deposit your documents and go away.

3. Get your rates over the counter.

4. You can get BTA whether you are a customer of the bank or not.

CBN instruction to commercial banks and BDC

The CBN had last week ordered commercial banks to begin over the counter sale of forex to all customers once they possess the necessary documents. The bank also mandated the Bureaux de Change Operators to access forex thrice in a week.

The BDCs reject forex offer

The Bureaux de Change Operators say they are not comfortable with the new forex purchase directive issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Aminu Gwadabe, President of the Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), said the directive is not acceptable.

“The CBN’s directive at this time of our operational difficulties is no doubt precarious and vague and was intended to emasculate a sector that has helped the system to stabilise and thus unacceptable,” he said.

Gwadabe said BDCs are heavily regulated despite being a small unit of the financial sector.

“ABCON is, therefore, using this opportunity to appeal to the CBN to take urgent steps to review the rate at which the dollar is sold to BDCs in order to boost ongoing recovery of the naira against the dollar.

“The BDCs buy dollar from IMTOs at N360/$1 and sell to end users at N361.5/$1 while the CBN sells to commercial banks at N357/$1 and the banks sell to end users at N360/$1.”

Nigerian naira vs US dollar

The naira is currently trading at N366 to a dollar on the parallel market, at the Investors' & Exporters' FX Window, the naira opens day trading at N361 to the dollar.

At the official market, the currency gained 0.02% to hold steady at N305.95.

Now you can get Nigerian Naira at N360 per dollar at any bank, here's how

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