CBN Queries Banks for Inaccurate Forex Data

• CBN Queries Banks for Supplying Inaccurate Forex Data

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Sunday said it had issued queries to some Deposit Money Banks that provided inaccurate information on foreign exchange to end users.

The apex bank said this in a statement issued by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor.

The statement did not provide the identities of the banks nor their number, but added that some of the affected banks had sent in their responses.

It said since the introduction of the new forex policy last year, the CBN had mandated all participating banks to forward evidences of forex sales to end users as well as advertise same in national dailies.

The decision to ask the banks to publish their forex rate, according to the apex bank, is to ensure transparency as the CBN neither allocates foreign exchange nor does it deal directly with bank customers.

However, the central bank lamented that it had observed that some banks forwarded inaccurate data, which were erroneously published, adding that this had given a wrong impression of disparate foreign exchange rates.

It said, “In line with our principle of transparency, we directed the DMBs to forward to us evidence of forex sale to end users and to advertise same in national dailies.

“Since the introduction of the new forex policy in 2016, we have published monthly the evidence of sale from the DMBs as received from the banks and without any alteration by us in the spirit of transparency.

“We have recently observed, however, that some of the DMBs forwarded inaccurate data, which were erroneously published and gave a wrong impression of disparate rates. The DMBs involved in providing inaccurate data have since been issued queries accordingly.

“Some have returned a response indicating that some of the figures were related to formatting errors, which do not affect the true rates of the affected transactions.”

The CBN stressed that as the constitutionally authorised industry regulator mandated to manage the forex market, maintain external reserves and safeguard the international value of the legal tender, it would not indulge in acts capable of discrediting the forex market.