Following pressures and the open admonition by Senate President Bukola Saraki, made more intense by the last week visit of the MD of the IMF, Ms Christine Lagarde, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, may
relax its restrictive policy on forex this week.
Lagarde allegedly pointed out, in unequivocal terms, the dangers of the
continued forex policy instituted by the CBN in the last 8 months. A team of economists from the IMF, are also set to arrive Nigeria this week to access the situation of things.
The forex witnessed several restrictions in 2015. The first was the closure of official forex market on February 18, 2015 which translated to further devaluation of the Naira to N197 from N165 per dollar. The 2nd notable restriction was the exclusion of 41 items from the official foreign exchange market. Then, in August, the CBN banned acceptance of foreign currency deposit into domiciliary accounts.
There was also limitation in the usage of Naira debit cards abroad, among many other restrictions which led to the depreciation of the Naira in the parallel market, as it rose from N179/N185 at the beginning of 2015, to close the year at N280 to a dollar…… however, Nigerians schooling abroad, don’t want it to b relaxed…..
