By Tanko Mohammed
The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele has announced that the new CBN policy to improve the Diaspora remittances into the country would take effect from Dec. 4.
Emefiele made this in his remarks on “Improving remittance Inflows into Nigeria ” obtained from the apex bank’s official website.
He said that policy measures were designed to boost and facilitate an efficient flow of remittances sent home by Nigerians in the Diaspora.
“In an effort to liberalise, simplify and improve the receipt and administration of the Diaspora remittances into Nigeria, CBN wishes to announce as
follows:
“Beneficiaries of Diaspora Remittances through International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) shall henceforth receive such inflows in foreign currency (U.S. dollars) through the designated bank of their choice.
“Such recipients of remittances may have the option of receiving these funds in foreign currency cash (U.S. dollars) or into their ordinary domiciliary accounts.
“These changes are necessary to deepen the foreign exchange market, provide more liquidity and create more transparency in the administration of Diaspora Remittances into Nigeria,” he said.
Emefiele said that the changes would help finance a future stream of investment opportunities for Nigerians in the Diaspora, while also guaranteeing that recipients of remittances would receive a market-reflective exchange rate for their inflows.
“All Authorised Dealers and the general public should note that beneficiaries shall have unfettered access and utilisation to such foreign currency proceeds either in FX cash and/or in their Domiciliary Accounts,” he said.
He however said that some of the stakeholders had tried to frustrate the new policy measures, adding that the apex bank would resort to stiffer measures to ensure its implementation.
“In the course of following up on the implementation of the aforementioned new policies, the CBN observed some pushback by some of the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) who were bent on undermining the new policies.
