Cardoso: Remittances rose to almost $600m in September after our engagement with IMTOs

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says remittance inflows rose to almost $600 million as of the end of  September.

Olayemi Cardoso, CBN governor, announced at a special summit dinner organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), on Wednesday in Abuja.

On May 15, CBN granted approval in principle (AIP) to 14 new international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to increase liquidity.

Prior to the approval, the apex bank mandated IMTOs to only make naira payments to recipients in Nigeria, removing the allowable limit of the foreign exchange (FX) rate quoted for such transactions.

Also, on June 25, CBN granted eligible IMTOs access to trade on the official FX window – thereby allowing the IMTOs to access naira liquidity in the official market.

Speaking on the result of the engagement with IMTOs, Cardoso said remittances have increased from the $200 million inflow he met.

“With the limitations from other sources of foreign exchange, we took it upon ourselves to engage with the IMTOs,” Cardoso said.

“When I was in Washington for the spring meetings, I called the different IMTOs and let them feel it from different parts of the world. And we engaged them extensively and understood what the problems were.

“I would say that when we started, the volumes that were going through the remittances were in the region of maybe about $200 million and as at the end of last month, we were almost $600 million.”

Cardoso also said the apex bank under his leadership is focused on issues related to FX forward contracts, price stability, restoring its credibility, and trust as a monetary policy-driven institution based on strong orthodoxy principles.