Uzoka said it would also enable more people get enough dollars to pay school fees abroad and procure Business Travel Allowance, BTA, and Personal Travel Allowance, PTA.
Members of the committee urged BDCs to approach banks and apply for forex. They said the decision was not a reversal of the committee’s earlier policy, but meant to ensure that the country surmounts its currency crisis.
Acting CBN Director of Corporate Communications Isaac Okorafor said the apex bank “will now monitor strictly to ensure that people do not abuse the process”.
Reacting, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, ABCON, President Aminu Gwadabe expressed surprise at the increase at a time he said banks were finding it difficult to meet the $30,000 limit.
Many of the banks, he said, were not even selling to BDCs, but preferred to return the cash to the CBN because of the limited time they can hold the funds. “We should be happy that the volume has been increased but unfortunately, the majority of the BDCs in Port Harcourt, Kano, Benin and other states are not getting the funds,” he said.
Gwadabe said the BDCs started funding their accounts since last week, adding that many of them could not even access $10,000 weekly let alone $30,000 or now $50,000.
He said the banks had not even sold dollars to the BDCs they cleared for complete documentation, adding that only 10 out of 100 cleared BDCs got the fund.
The practice, he said, made it difficult for the naira to appreciate noting that the local currency exchanged at N388/ N390 to the dollar yesterday.
The CBN, he said, should include the BDCs in the Bankers’ Committee meetings to ensure that their voices were heard.
CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision Mrs. Tokunbo Martins said a decision was taken at the end of the committee’s meeting to start disbursing the special intervention fund to support primary agricultural projects and core manufacturing.
