CBN issues new directives on Naira4Dollar promo

The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced a new decision on its Naira for Dollar Scheme scheduled to end on Saturday, May 8.

The scheme designed to reward diaspora remittances recipients with N5 for every dollar received, CBN says, will now be extended until further notice.

In a notification posted on its website to Deposit Banks and International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), retrieved on Thursday, CBN instructed that the N5 extra to recipients continues.

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“Further to the CBN Circular referenced TED/FEM/PUB/FPC/01/003 dated 05 March 2021 on the above subject matter, which was originally scheduled to end on 08 May 2021, we hereby announce the continuation of the scheme until further notice,” CBN said.

The circular signed by A.S. Brin for the director trade and exchange department also noted that all the operationalization of the programme stays.

The CBN had on March 8, this year introduced the pilot scheme of the Naira4Dollar initiative to encourage remittance inflows through official channels and increased foreign exchange liquidity in the country.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, during the announcement of the scheme also expressed confidence that the campaign would yield positive results.

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However, it seems not much result was achieved in the first quarter of 2021 according to direct remittance data from CBN.

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In an earlier report by Ripples Nigeria, Nigerians sent home in the first three months $865.4 million as against $35.9 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2020.

In January, $185.2 million was sent home, February’s $452.9 million and in March it decreased to $227.2 million.