Effective December 1, 2016, the Central bank of Nigeria has pegged foreign currency withdrawals from domiciliary accounts to $10,000 per month. This directive became public as commercial banks notified their customers of the development.
Dear Esteemed Customer,
Thank you for banking with us.
We write to inform you that foreign transfers from domiciliary accounts on the back of funding through cash deposits is now restricted to a maximum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) monthly per customer. This adjustment applies to all customers irrespective of the number of accounts operated and will take effect from 01 December, 2016.
However we will continue to accept cash deposits to domiciliary accounts in line with subsistent regulatory guidelines.
It would be recalled that last year, 2015, the CBN gave a similar order prohibiting the deposit and withdrawal of foreign currency into domiciliary accounts, thereby restricting transactions on domiciliary accounts to only transfers. The apex bank however rescinded its decision in January 2016, as the value of the Naira nose-dived.
However, neither the decision nor the reasons for this current directive has been made known to the public as at the time of this report.
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