The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed commercial banks to sell dollar to Pilgrims heading to the 2016 Hajj at the exchange rate of N197.
The move follows the continued fall of the Nigerian naira against the greenback as the naira exchanged for N400 at the close of business on Thursday.
The Central Bank however set a limit to the exchange amount as it placed the minimum amount to be exchanged at $750 with its maximum limit set at $1000 per pilgrim.
The directive further revealed a total catchment for the 65,197 pilgrims as the Central bank has high marked as much as $65,197,000 on the premise that each intending pilgrim buys as much as $1000.
The move by the Central Bank however puts a strain on the Federal Government which has been battling recession. The subsidy could also cost Nigerian tax payers about N7,693,246,000 factoring in the difference between the parallel market price and the subsidised price of the dollar.