The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday announced that all arrangements have been perfected by both the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) and the Deposit Money Banks to start paying diaspora remittances in foreign currency (US Dollar).
In a statement issued by the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria said the institution has engaged both the commercial banks and the IMTOs to ensure that Nigerians start receiving remittance inflows in foreign currency today.
The statement reads in part, “Following the announcement of these new policy measures, the Central Bank of Nigeria, in an effort to enable smooth implementation, engaged with the commercial banks and the IMTOs to ensure that recipients of remittance inflows are able to receive their funds in the designated foreign currency of their choice.
“As a result of these engagements which took place with major IMTOs and the DMBs, today, Thursday, December 3, 2020, the stakeholders have committed that they would deploy all the necessary tools to ensure that these measures become effective from Friday, December 4, 2020.”
Emefiele added that “I, therefore, seize this opportunity to announce to Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora, that the policy of recipients receiving their monies from abroad kicks off on December 4, 2020. All the IT systems of these IMTOs (Western Union, Moneygram and Ria services) and the DMBs have been properly configured to begin remittance tomorrow, Friday, December 4, 2020.”
