The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has decried media report suggesting that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has queried it over sale of foreign exchange at rates ridiculously lower than that of the market.
A statement by Isaac Okoroafor, acting director of Corporate Communications, said neither Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the CBN nor the Director, Legal
Services Department, has received any communication on the issue.
Okoroafor, while noting “there is no way any DMB (Deposit Money Banks) or the CBN will deal in forex transaction at the rate of 61kobo/USD, N18/US$1 or N3/US$1,” as was erroneously reported.
The apex bank, he added, “does not deal directly with any bank customer on foreign exchange transactions (as such) are consummated strictly between the customers and their respective (DMBs).”
Moreso, the statement continued, “the figures of forex sale published in national dailies or on CBN website, over which insinuations are being formed, were transactions consummated between the DMBs and their customers,” a practice it began since October 2016.
The statement added that following observations of different exchange rates, besides some observed formatting errors, after the last publication on its website, the banks concerned were asked for explanations, following which they said the returns were sent based on the foreign currency rates on which the transactions were conducted.
“The transactions concerned were consummated in third currencies such as Japanese Yen and South African Rand (YEN/ZAR); JPY/NGN, EUR/USD (and) USD/ZAR,” all of which are third currency transactions and when properly translated, will be in line with the prevailing forex rate range in the interbank market.
To prevent any such occurrence in the future, the CBN said it directed all banks to render their returns in a uniform format by converting all forex sales and purchases, including third currency transactions, to NGN/US$.
Okoroafor urged all concerned stakeholders to always verify information before going public in order not to trigger volatility in the market, assuring that the CBN, being “a responsible and responsive arm of Government, will always provide clarifications on any matter within its purview for the purpose of educating and enlightening all concerned.”