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| Nigerian Banks |
Nigeria’s
Central Bank has barred nine commercial banks from all foreign exchange
transactions and operations. CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele CBN Governor, Mr
Godwin Emefiele .
The
banks were barred for hiding some $2.12 billion belonging to the nation’s oil
corporation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and failed to
remit the funds into the Treasury Single Account .
A
top Central Bank source confirmed to Channels Television on Tuesday, that
President Muhammadu Buhari had been briefed on the matter and the sanctions to
be imposed on the defaulting banks.
The
nine banks comprise of three tier-one lenders and another six tier-two deposit
money banks. All the banks remain barred from foreign exchange operations until
they fully remit the NNPC funds into government coffers via the Treasury Single
Account, the apex bank said.
The
Treasury Single Account of the government was established in August 2015, with
the government saying it would help check leakages in the system.
The
apex bank’s decision to bar the banks comes two months after it released the
highlights of the much awaited flexible foreign exchange market policy.
The
highlights, which are key notes and agreements reached by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), were released on Wednesday, weeks after the Monetary Policy
Committee announced the introduction of the policy.
After
its meeting of May 24, the CBN said the policy would allow the bank retain a
small portion of foreign exchange for critical transactions.
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