The much awaited forex guideline by the Central Bank of Nigeria has been officially released.
Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele released the guideline in a press conference on Wednesday.
Summary of the Press Conference held by the Governor of the Central Bank on the Flexible Exchange Rate Policy held June 15, 2016
1. The Market will operate as single market through the interbank
2. The FX Rate will be purely market-driven
3. CBN will participate through periodic interventions
4. FX primary dealers will be registered to deal directly with the CBN for large deal sizes.
5. FX primary dealers will deal with other authorised dealers
6. There will be no more spread restrictions
7. The 41 items classified for not valid for FX are still not admissible in FX interbank market
8. CBN may offer long-tenored FX forwards
9. Selling of FX forwards must be trade backed with no pre-determined spreads
10. Over the Counter FX futures will be introduced. The OTC FX futures are bespoke and volumes could be non-standard
11. Non-oil exporters are now allowed unfettered access to export proceeds via the interbank market
Timelines
12. Guidelines of the general FX market will be released immediately
13. Guidelines for FX primary dealers will be released immediately
14. FX primary dealers will be appointed and notified by June 17, 2016
15. Interbank FX trading under the new guidelines will begin on June 20, 2016
Additional details will be released as soon they are published by the Central Bank.
