FOREX INFRACTIONS: CBN to send EFCC after rogue banks, companies

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it was ready to partner with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in order to expose and sanction institutions that work against its foreign exchange policy on stimulating domestic production.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who stated this in Lagos said: “The CBN’s Economic Intelligence and Banking Supervision Departments will work very hard with the EFCC to expose and sanction any bank, company or forex operator that colludes with unscrupulous individuals/companies to undermine the policy on 41 items.

“Such sanctions will include, but not limited to prohibiting the banks from maintaining any bank accounts for such institutions or persons in Nigeria.”

According to Emefiele, remarkable success had been achieved in stimulating domestic production of goods such as rice, cassava and maize as a result of the restrictions placed by the CBN on access to forex for the 41 items.

The CBN governor further said that the apex bank intended to vigorously ensure that the policy remained in place, and additional efforts would be made to block any attempts by unscrupulous parties (both individuals and corporates) that intend to find other avenues of accessing forex in order to import these items into the country.

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Emefiele, who also spoke on the global and domestic headwinds and the volatility being experienced in the crude oil market, noted that it was important to work very hard to spur job creation by reviving agricultural and industrial activities in the country.

“If we continue to support the growth of smallholder farmers, as well as help to revive palm oil refineries, rice mills, cassava and tomato processing factories, you can only imagine the amount of wealth and jobs that will be created in the country.

“These could include new set of smallholder farmers that will be engaged in productive activities; new logistics companies that will transport raw materials to factories, and finished goods to the market; new storage centres that will be built to store locally produced goods; additional growth for our banks and financial institutions as they will be able to provide financial services to support these new businesses; and finally, the millions of Nigerians that will be employed in factories to support processing of goods, Emefiele said.

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