The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed plans to rename the official foreign exchange market known as the Investors and Exporters window, to now be known as the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Folashodun Shonubi, made this known while delivering a Distinguished Personality lecture titled: “Diaspora Remittances and Nigeria Economic Development” for members of the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 16 at the National Institute for Security Studies, Abuja.
“We will rename the foreign exchange market, known as the I & E market, to the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, as it is the sole market we acknowledge,” Shonubi said.
He also stated that the CBN will sanction commercial banks engaging in illegal sales of forex, adding that a commission had been formed to pay unscheduled visits to banks accused of unlawfully selling dollars.
The acting governor lamented that despite efforts to induce individuals to engage in formal market transactions by granting a N5 refund through its Naira 4 Dollar scheme, the policy was still ineffective prompting the N5 rebate to be discontinued.
He, however, still acknowledged the usefulness of incentives in attracting people to the formal market.
The I&E window was established by the CBN in 2017 as the market trading segment for investors, exporters and end-users. It allows for forex trades to be made at exchange rates determined based on prevailing market circumstances, thus ensuring efficient and effective price discovery in the Nigerian foreign exchange market.
The decision to rename the market comes barely two months after the CBN confirmed the abolishment of segmentation in the foreign exchange market and collapsed all segments and rates into the I&E window, which it now regards as the sole official forex market.
