Commercial banks have asked their customers to fund their accounts adequately for new and pending requests to access foreign exchange (FX) for legitimate needs.
Such legitimate needs include Form A applications for business Travel Allowance (BTA), Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), school fees, and medical fees, and Form Q for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Access Bank and Fidelity Bank have in a notice to their customers said all applications will continue to be processed through the banks, and that the naira to foreign currency exchange rate is no longer fixed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The rate is determined by the prevailing foreign exchange market rate at the point of foreign exchange purchase guided by Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
“The above will affect all new and pending Form A and Form Q applications. We kindly request that you adequately fund your account to accommodate the naira equivalent of your foreign currency needs,” Access Bank said in a notice to their customers.
Fidelity Bank said the same applies to payment for letters of credit, bills for collection and other invisible trade transactions.
“Applicable exchange rate will be market-determined at the time of processing. All eligible request will be treated subject to FX availability,” Fidelity Bank said.
The CBN had collapsed all segments of foreign exchange markets into the I&E forex window, re-introducing the “Willing Buyer, Willing Seller” model.
In a circular signed by Angela Sere-Ejembi, CBN’s director of financial markets, the CBN said operations in this window shall be guided by the extant circular on the establishment of the window, dated April 21, 2017 and referenced FMD/DIR/CIR/GEN/08/007, adding that all eligible transactions are permitted to access foreign exchange at this window.
