The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has defended the stability of the banking system, saying no Nigerian bank is “experiencing stress.”
CBN’s Director of Communications, Ibrahim Mu’azu, assured the banking public that the Nigerian banking system is sound and that all banks are in compliance with both the regulatory and prudential requirements.
Meanwhile, the naira yesterday strengthened by 2.1 per cent to N235 per dollar on the unofficial market. The local currency became upbeat after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to enforce documentation requirements on bureau de change (BDC) operators prior to dollar sales.
The CBN had asked BDC operators to submit accounts showing their dollar usage at the start of each week before they can access future sales, a move traders say was aimed at curbing speculation.
The naira had fallen sharply on Wednesday, a day after the apex bank unexpectedly cut interest rates to stimulate lending. The currency was quoted at the pegged rate of N197 on the official interbank market on Thursday. “It has been observed that a good number of bureaux de change purchased foreign exchange from the central bank without rendering returns on their utilisation,” the CBN said.
The CBN has introduced currency controls to stop the naira weakening, defying calls to further devalue the currency hard hit by the plunge in global crude prices.