CBN denies forex racketeering allegation

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed report alleging foreign exchange racketeering in the country.

A leading business daily had on Monday, February 4,2019, alleged that the apex bank officials were involved in shady forex deals. The report was titled: “Exposed !The Sleazy Face of N306/$, inside Nigeria’s racket where faceless agents pocket over N32bn annually”,

However, in its reaction, the CBN said the story is baseless without facts.

“The management of the CBN wishes to react to the report wherein BusinessDay newspaper alleges that faceless agents in Nigeria are exploiting the country’s multiple exchange rates to devastating effects and allegedly with the backing of regulators.

“The CBN wishes to state unequivocally that this report is unfounded and untrue and challenges BusinessDay to provide the names and also verifiable evidence of collusion between these faceless agents and officials of the CBN, who are working to perpetuate these so called Fx racket schemes. We would also urge the management of BusinessDay to contact the CBN prior to making such spurious allegations, as we were denied the benefit of responding to this article,” it said in the statement”, the CBN explained..

The apex bank noted that the foreign exchange rates across various markets were governed and regulated by it, have been converging, leaving no room for arbitrage opportunities in Nigeria’s forex market.

“For avoidance of doubt, the CBN will continue to act in the best interest of Nigeria and shall ensure it remains focused on its core mandate of sustaining the stability in the FX market”, the statement added.