The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, aid it has cleared all foreign exchange claims, even as it reveals that the apex bank has uncovered about $2.4 billion false claims.
The CBN boss, Oluyemi Cardoso in a press briefing disclosed that the backlog of all valid FX transactions had been cleared, adding that security agencies were investigating infractions discovered by the audit firm.
He said: “We got a reputable audit firm to look into the documents and they did a thorough job and came out to say that a number of these transactions did not qualify.
I have said this before. Some cases you have allocations of millions of dollars which were never requested.
“You also had cases where there were requests but no Naira backing, yet were allocated foreign exchange. And the list goes on. Those were some of the infractions. It was for those reasons that we refused to validate those transactions.
“Apart from the fact that documentation was not satisfactory, in many cases, there were outright illegal. The law enforcement agencies are now looking at those transactions that as far as we are concerned, were not valid to be paid.
“I would emphasize that if there is any information to the contrary, we would in due course consider that. But as at today, that is exactly where we stand. The law enforcement agencies are taking a very hard look into those transactions.
“I have said it before and I will say it again, that the valid transactions, as far as, the CBN is concerned, have been taken care of. We are also not unmindful that, just may be, some stakeholders may have some backlog over a period of time or the other. We are not unmindful of that. Some may go back years over a period of time.
“We have done what we can to make the market open, transparent and liquid as much as possible. So those particular stakeholders are free to access the market.
Meanwhile, according to Cardoso, the apex bank, after its 294th Monetary Policy Committee meeting held Tuesday in Abuja decided to raise again the Monetary Policy Rate by 200 basis points from 22.75 to 24.75 percent.
He also announced an adjustment of the asymmetric corridor of +100/-300 basis points, adding that the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of Deposit Money Banks was retained at 45 percent, while the CRR for merchant banks was moved from 10 to 14 percent. The Liquidity Ratio was left at 30 percent.
Cardoso pointed out that after thorough examination of the balance of risks, the MPC opted for further tightening cycle for full impact of last month’s rate hike.