CBN creates Special FX window for SMEs
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that a special Forex window has been opened for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to import eligible finished and semi-finished items not exceeding $20,000 for an enterprise per quarter.
The CBN’s Acting Director of Communication, Mr Isaac Okoroafor who made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the development, explained that the Bank’s special intervention was necessitated by its findings that a large number of SMEs were being “crowded out of the forex space by large firms”.
Mr Okorafor said, “The sum of $20,000 per SME customer per quarter can be effected by telegraphic transfer subject to completion of Form ‘M’ supported with proforma Invoice and the importer’s Bank Verification Number (BVN)”
According to him, all processing banks are to ensure that the importers submit relevant shipping documents not later than 60 days from the date of the transfer.
Okorafor also said that the apex bank had begun the massive sale of foreign exchange in different sectors of the Forex market this week.
He said; “On Monday, April 10, 2017, the Bank intervened by offering the sum of $100 million to authorized dealers at the forex auction in the interbank wholesale window. It also sold $41 million for BTA, PTA, medical and tuition fees. On the BDC segment, the Bank also sold $10,000 each to BDCs to meet the needs of low-end users in the country”.
The spokesman noted that the dealers in the wholesale segment will have value for their respective bids on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, adding that the sum of $99,544,417.45 was picked up by dealers out of the $100 million offered by the Bank during the last wholesale auction on April 6, 2017.
Meanwhile, operators in the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment have duly funded their accounts with the CBN in anticipation of picking up the dollar equivalent ($10,000) yesterday, Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
There are also indications that the CBN would continue its special intervention in the market with the sale of more dollars to BDCs and in both the retail and wholesale windows in the course of the week.
