Following the widespread complaints about the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) urged Nigerians not to panic. Moreso, adding that there is enough forex for business owners, travellers and parents with students abroad to meet their obligations.
Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor made it known on Tuesday at the 278th MPC Press Briefing in Abuja. According to him at least $80m are disbursed to banks on a weekly basis to enable Nigerians to meet their forex responsibilities.
He, therefore, charged Nigerians to report any bank withholding forex to a special call centre of the apex bank. No doubt, the lingering foreign exchange scarcity in Nigeria was taking a heavy toll on foreign tuition payment. This is clear as many parents and guardians groan over difficulty in paying their children’s school fees.
“Part of the measures that we have adopted is that on a weekly basis, the CBN disburses not less than $80m to the banks either for Personal Travel Allowances or payment of school fees.
“We have created a complaint desk where you can call us or call some of our people who will respond. It is like call centres, where people can call that they went to a particular bank and they didn’t get money to pay school fees or they didn’t get money to travel.”
“There is no need for anybody to panic,” the CBN governor stated, adding that positive indices including exit from recession, diasporan remittances and stable crude oil prices, will buoy forex availability.
He added, “We are very optimistic that there is enough foreign exchange and there will continue to be enough foreign exchange for people to meet their obligations. We just need people to be patient.
“There is no need for everybody to rush to the bank at the same time creating panic and giving speculators an opportunity to reap us off.”
