The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will be receiving complaints related to foreign exchange from the public through a dedicated phone line and an email address, both of which it has made public. These media will be open to complaints from people who have been denied access to foreign exchange by banks for school fees and medical bills.
“Any customer who is not attended to within 24 hours for BTA/PTA or 48 hours for tuition and medical fees should call 07002255226 or send an email to cpd[@]cbn.gov.ng,” the statement from the CBN read.
The Central Bank also rejected claims by some banks that it had not made sufficient foreign exchange available to them for the tuition and medical fees of its customers; according to it, the banks were receiving a regular supply of foreign exchange which was sufficient to meet the needs of the customers.
“All banks have more than enough stock of FOREX in their possession for the purpose of meeting genuine customers demand for BTA, PTA, tuition and medical fees,” the apex bank said. “Indeed, on a weekly basis, the CBN has been selling at least $80 million to banks for onward sale to their customers for these invisible items.”
The CBN urged aggrieved customers to indicate the specific bank and branch of the offending bank when reporting cases of denial of foreign exchange.