By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Naira 4 Dollar promo of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be discontinued from Friday, June 30, 2023; some commercial banks have informed their customers.
The scheme was introduced by the central bank in March 2021 to help save the local currency when it came under foreign exchange (FX) pressure, which weakened its value in the currency market.
However, the initiative could not achieve its goal as the Nigerian legal tender was further battered due to the forex crisis, influenced by the multiple exchange rate systems in the country.
But some days ago, the CBN floated the Naira, allowing market forces to fix its price in the FX market. The move was also to collapse the different forex segments into one, and when such is not achieved, the disparity between the official and parallel market rates should be minute.
A few days ago, the apex bank issued a circular to deposit money banks (DMBs) that the Naira 4 Dollar scheme would be stopped.
The promo allows customers to get N5 for every Dollar received through diaspora remittances. The money can be paid into their bank accounts or received in cash. The initiative was initially meant to last for three months, but the central bank extended it indefinitely.
But in one of the messages seen by Business Post, banks informed their customers that they would still be able to enjoy the largesse till the end of this month.
“In line with the newly introduced CBN FX policy, the N5 to $1 promo will be discontinued from June 30, 2023.
“This means that you will no longer get an extra N5 for every $1 received.
“You can still receive dollars from anywhere in the world directly into your account or as cash pick at any of our branches nationwide via our International Money Transfer Partners,” the notice read.
