Ronke Kehinde/
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has barred First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and 12 others from dealing in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) wholesale Forex window.
Other banks affected by the order included FCMB, Keystone Bank, Main Street Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Citi Bank, Enterprise Bank and WEMA Bank, Union Bank, SunTrust Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank.
The CBN spokesman, Mr Isaac Okorafor, revealed in a statement that the banks were barred following persistent complaints that some Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) deliberately frustrate efforts by many SMEs to access forex from the new window created by CBN.
He said that the financial regulator took the decision to bar the erring banks based on field reports, which revealed that only eight banks out of 22 had sold forex to the SMEs segment since the inception of the new window.
He added that the CBN frowned at the action of banks that declined to sell foreign exchange to SMEs to enable them import eligible finished and semi-finished items despite the availability of forex from the CBN.
Okorafor noted that all banks that had refused to sell forex to the SMEs after accessing over 300 million dollars offered through the SMEs window since its creation last month will be sanctioned accordingly.
He listed the banks not barred to include: Zenith Bank, Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank, Jaiz Bank, Sterling Bank, and Unity Bank.
He warned that the CBN would not sit back and allow any form of instability in the interbank forex market through the actions of institutions or individuals.
He urged all stakeholders to play by the rules for the benefit of the entire country and its economy.
Meanwhile, the CBN continued its massive intervention in the foreign exchange segment of the financial market by injecting $196.2 million into the various segments of the Forex market today.
According to Okorafor, the apex Bank also offered $100 million to authorised dealers at Tuesday’s Forex wholesale auction.
A breakdown of the other interventions indicate that the CBN made available $52 million to the SME segment, while invisibles such as Personal and Basic Travel Allowance, medicals and tuition fees received $44.2 million.
The spokesman expressed confidence that the interventions would continue to guarantee stability in the market and ensure availability to individuals and business concerns.
The CBN, in April, opened a special foreign exchange window to cater to the SME sector.
The Window would enable SMEs import eligible finished and semi-finished items not exceeding $20, 000 for an enterprise per quarter.
This is part of the CBN strategy to improve the fare of everyday imported commodity in the market.
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