The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a warning to International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) for allegedly engaging in foreign exchange arbitrage within the country.
The apex bank issued the warning in a circular on Wednesday signed by its Director of Trade and Exchange Department, Dr. W.J. Kanya.
The bank frowned at arbitrary rate quotes outside the permissible range, which violate the extant regulations.
CBN said the warning became necessary following the recent violations and breaches by some IMTOs aggravating the forex crisis.
It outlined potential sanctions for further non-compliance by forex operators.
Media Talk Africa learnt that operators are expected to sell forex at the approved rate, which is the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing, NAFEX rates plus or minus 2.5 per cent.
The NAFEX closed at N773.04/$1 on Wednesday.
“However, during routine checks by the Central Bank of Nigeria, it was observed that some IMTOs were operating and acting in breach of the above-referenced circular. These actions included arbitrary rate quotes outside of permissible range and other sharp practices, violating extant regulations”, the circular partly reads.
