The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched a price verification portal as it continues to explore measures to revive the value of the country’s plummeting naira.
Announcing the development in a circular to banks on Wednesday, the apex bank detailed that the move was made to make it easier for importers to have access to forex.
The latest innovation makes it mandatory for all Forrm M requests to go through the portal before having access to Forex.
According to the circular, the directive will be effective from August 31, 2023.
“Following the successful conduct of the pilot run and various trainings held with all the banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby announces the Go- Live of the Price Verification System (PVS). Consequently, with effect from August 31, 2023, all applications for Forms M shall be accompanied by a valid Price Verification Report generated from the Price Verification Portal. For the avoidance of doubt, by the circular, the Price Verification Report has become a mandatory trade document precedent to the completion of a Form M. All Authorized Dealers are hereby advised to bring this to the attention of their customers as any case of infraction will be appropriately sanctioned,” a statement by CBN read.
News About Nigeria reports that the Naira has continued to weaken following President Bola Tinubu’s government’s decision to unify the country’s FX market. While some financial experts saw the move as a brave attempt to stabilize the country’s tumbling currency, others saw it as a foolish one.
However, since the move, the naira’s value has continued to fall in the foreign market, reaching as low as N950 to the US dollar last week. However, the naira recovered in the exchange market earlier this week, trading at around N780 to the dollar.
