In a bid at deepen the foreign exchange market, boost liquidity and attain convergence in the exchange rates, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) the go ahead to deposit their excess foreign currency notes with its branches in Lagos and Abuja.
This approval followed the increasing demands by DMBs to deposit their forex cash with the apex bank for onward credit to their offshore accounts with correspondent banks.
In a circular issued by its Director of Currency Operators, Mohammed Solaja and posted on the website on Friday, the CBN said each bank would be allowed a maximum deposit of $10 million threshold for USD 100 notes and USD 50 notes daily at its branches in Abuja and Lagos.
The circular read: “In order to deepen the foreign exchange market, boost liquidity and attain convergence in the exchange rates of the parallel and official markets, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved that DMBs may deposit their excess foreign currency notes with Lagos and Abuja branches of the bank.
“The approval is a response to the increasing demand by DMBs to deposit their forex cash with CBN for onward credit to their off-shore accounts with the correspondent banks.”
By: Babajide Okeowo