CBN debunks allegation of forex racketeering

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed report alleging foreign exchange racketeering in the country, saying the story was baseless without facts.

In a swift reaction to newspaper report on Monday captioned “Exposed The Sleazy Face of N306/$, inside Nigeria’s racket where faceless agents pocket over N32 billion annually” CBN authorities maintained that the report is unfounded and untrue.

In a statement, managers of the CBN “wishes to react to the report wherein BusinessDay newspaper alleges that faceless agents in Nigeria are exploiting the country’s multiple exchange rates to devastating effects and allegedly with the backing of regulators.

“The CBN wishes to state unequivocally that this report is unfounded and untrue and challenges BusinessDay to provide the names and also verifiable evidence of collusion between these faceless agents and officials of the CBN, who are working to perpetuate these so called Fx racket schemes. We would also urge the management of BusinessDay to contact the CBN prior to making such spurious allegations, as we were denied the benefit of responding to this article,” the statement said.

The apex bank noted that the foreign exchange rates across various markets governed and regulated by it, have been converging, leaving no room for arbitrage opportunities in Nigeria’s forex market.

“For avoidance of doubt, the CBN will continue to act in the best interest of Nigeria and shall ensure it remains focused on its core mandate of sustaining the stability in the FX market”, the statement added.

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