Nigeria lifts foreign exchange market ban on banks

The Nigerian government on Wednesday re-instated all the commercial banks that were banned from the foreign exchange market.

The decision was reached after a series of meetings with the body of bank chief executive officers (CEOs) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Tokunbo Martins, a director with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) told reporters in Abuja.

"Well, we have had engagements with the body of CEOs and they have been interacting among themselves and I am happy to tell you today that the banks that were hitherto banned have been released from the ban," he added.

"And the reason is because all of the banks after discussions and engagements under the auspices of the body of CEOs and the CIBN have all submitted credible repayment plans which we the CBN found acceptable," he said.

"So as a result of that, all those banks have been re-instated in the foreign exchange market," the apex bank official told reporters.

Earlier, Herbert Wigwe, the Managing Director of Access Bank, said the body of bank CEOs under the auspices of the CIBN, aims to get banks to work together.

He said this would ensure that anytime there was a serious issue in the market, bank CEOs could meet to look for a way to resolve them. Endit