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We injected $7.6bn into FX market in five months to stabilise naira – CBN

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it injected $7.6 billion into the economy in five months through foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers.

The apex bank said this in its monthly economic reports for May 2022.

According to the report, CBN said it intervened in the FX markets to stabilise the value of the naira with $1.65 billion and $1.39 billion in January and February, respectively.

The apex bank added that it pumped $1.82 billion in March, $1.56 billion in April and $1.18 billion in May 2022.

Despite interventions, the naira depreciated by 0.7 percent to N415 a dollar in the official market within the period.

“Total foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers by the bank were $1.18 billion, a decrease of 24.4 percent below $1.56 billion in April,” the report reads.

“A breakdown shows that foreign exchange sales at the Investors and Exporters and interbank/invisible windows decreased by 37.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent to $0.16 billion percent, below their respective levels in the preceding month.

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“Similarly, SMIS and matured swap contracts fell by 7.0 percent and 71.4 percent to $0.64 billion and $0.10 billion, respectively, compared to the amounts in April. However, foreign exchange sales at the Small and Medium Enterprises window rose 8.4 percent to $0.12 billion in the review period.”

Last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped the sale of foreign exchange (FX) to Bureau De Change (BDCs) operators in the country and channelled weekly allocations of dollar sales to commercial banks to meet legitimate FX demands.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, had said the apex bank would stop the sale of foreign exchange to banks by the end of the year.

“The era is coming to an end when, because your customers need $100 million in foreign exchange or $200 million, you now want to pack all the dollars and pass it to CBN to give you dollars,” he had said.

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“It is coming to an end before or by the end of this year. We will tell them don’t come to the Central Bank for foreign exchange again and generate their export proceeds.”

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CBN raises commercial banks’ capital base to N500bn

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced an upward review of the minimum capital requirements for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.

In a statement on Thursday, CBN said the increase was necessary due to prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds occasioned by external and domestic shocks.

The statement was signed by Haruna Mustafa, director, financial policy and regulation department.

According to the apex bank, the upward review will enhance their resilience, solvency and capacity to continue to support the growth of the Nigerian economy.

CBN increased the capital base for commercial banks with international licences to N500 billion, while national and regional financial institutions’ capital bases were pegged at N200 billion and N50 billion, respectively.

 

The financial regulator said the capital base for national and regional non-interest banks is N20 billion and n10 billion, respectively.

To meet the minimum capital requirements, CBN advised banks to consider the injection of “fresh equity capital through private placements, rights issue and/or offer for subscription”.

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CBN also suggested merger and acquisition (M&A), as well as upgrade or downgrade of licences.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING BANKS

The minimum capital specified above shall comprise paid-up capital and share premium only. For the avoidance of doubt, the new capital requirement shall not be based on shareholders’ funds.

Additional tier 1 (AT1) capital shall not be eligible for the purpose of meeting the new requirement.
All banks are required to meet the minimum capital requirement within a period of 24 months commencing from April 1, 2024 and terminating on March 31, 2026.

Notwithstanding the capital increase, banks are to ensure strict compliance with the minimum capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirement applicable to their license authorization.

In line with extant regulations, banks that breach the CAR requirement shall required to inject fresh capital to regularise their position.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSED BANKS

The minimum capital requirement shall be paid-up capital.

The new minimum capital requirement shall be applicable to all new applications for banking licences submitted after April 1, 2024.

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The CBN shall continue to process all pending applications for banking licences for which capital deposit had been made and/or approval-in-principle (AIP) had been granted. However, the promoters of such proposed banks shall make up the difference between the capital deposited with the CBN and the new capital requirement not later than March 31

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CBN said all banks are required to submit an implementation plan, clearly indicating the chosen option{s) for meeting the new capital requirement and various activities involved with their timelines.

 

“The plan shall be submitted to the Director, Banking Supervision Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, not later than April 30, 2024,” the apex bank said.

 

CBN said it will monitor and ensure compliance with the new requirements within the specified timeline above.

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Fuel price: NNPC denies adjusting pump prices of petrol, diesel

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has not adjusted the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), known as petrol, across its retail outlets.

There have been speculations that NNPC had reduced the price of petrol to N560 per litre — from N568.

 

The national oil company was also quoted as increasing the price of diesel to N920 per litre.

In a statement on Wednesday, signed by Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, the firm denied the claims.

 

“NNPC Limited wishes to clarify rumours suggesting a price adjustment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) at its retail stations nationwide,” the statement reads.

 

“The company asserts that these reports are false and urges Nigerians to disregard them entirely.

 

“NNPC Ltd reaffirms its commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in petroleum products supply across all its retail stations in the country.

On February 9, the NNPC had said there would not be any increase in the cost of petrol.

READ  Naira crisis: Nigerians' pains worsen as currency-in-circulation tumbles to N1.54tn from N3.3tn

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Law enforcement agencies investigating $2.4bn unverified FX claims – Cardoso

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The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, says law enforcement agencies are investigating $2.4 billion unverified foreign exchange (FX) claims.

 

Cardoso spoke during a press conference on Tuesday after the 294th meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC) in Abuja.

 

On February 5, Olayemi Cardoso, CBN governor, said he inherited a $7 billion FX backlog when he became the head of the apex bank in September 2023, however, it was discovered that $2.4 billion of the sum was invalid following an inquiry into the transactions.

 

Subsequently, the apex bank said all outstanding FX obligations had successfully been settled.

 

While providing clarification on the unverified claims, the CBN governor highlighted various irregularities, such as the disbursement of large sums of FX for requests that were never submitted and allocations made without the necessary naira backing. 

 

He said there was an absence of legal validity and adequate documentation in these transactions.

 

READ  Naira crisis: Nigerians' pains worsen as currency-in-circulation tumbles to N1.54tn from N3.3tn

Cardoso also stressed the gravity of these irregularities, labelling numerous transactions under investigation as “clearly unlawful”.

 

“We brought in Deloitte management consultants who took time and this really did take months. This is not something that happened overnight and a lot of this work was going on and people didn’t know but they took months painstakingly to go through all the documents, all the documents and to ensure that you know, they would have a report, which we could rely on,” he said.

 

“In the course of that, of course, we determined that a number of these transactions did not qualify. In some cases, you had some allocations that were made in millions of dollars, which were never requested for.

 

“We also had somewhere they had no naira and they were also allocated, you know, huge sums of foreign exchange and the list goes on. It was for that reason that we refused to validate those particular transactions.

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“We refused to validate them because apart from the fact that documentation was not satisfactory, in many cases, they were outright illegal. And the law enforcement agencies, of course, are now looking into those transactions that are, as far as we’re concerned, not valid to be paid. 

 

“I would emphasise that if there’s any information to the contrary, we would in due course consider that but as of today, that is exactly where it stands and the law enforcement agencies are taking a very, very hard look at those transactions.

 

“Other transactions, we have settled and as of today, as I have said before, I will say it again, that the valid transactions as far as the Central Bank of Nigeria is concerned, have been taken care of.”

 

‘FX MARKET IS AS OPEN, TRANSPARENT AS POSSIBLE’

Speaking further, Cardoso addressed the issue of stakeholders who may not be satisfied with the FX official market.

 

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According to Cardoso, all verified claims have been settled, adding that anyone is free to access the market.

 

“We are also not mindful of the fact that there may be some stakeholders who over a period of time may have had backlogs in one form or the other,” he said.

 

“We are not unmindful that that could be the case. That some of those may go back, you know, years, a long period of time.

 

“We have done what we can to make the market as open and transparent and liquid as possible. So those particular stakeholders are free to access those markets and take care of the backlogs. We have met the verified backlogs of contractual obligations as we deem them forward transactions.”

 

Meanwhile, on March 21, foreign airlines in Nigeria said they do not support patronising the investors and exporters (I&E) window  for foreign exchange (FX) transactions.

 

 

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