The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shared some happy news. In July 2024, they got a lot more money sent into Nigeria from other countries, reaching $553 million. This is a big 130% jump compared to July 2023.
This big number is the highest amount Nigeria has ever received in one month. This great news came out on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, from Hakama Sidi Ali, who is in charge of telling people about what the CBN is doing.
CBN Says Its Plans Helped Bring More Money
The CBN says their smart plans have made it easier for people outside Nigeria to send money back home.
The statement said:
“In July 2024, CBN saw $553 million come in, a 130% increase from the same time in 2023. This is the most money we’ve ever received in one month.”
“This shows that CBN’s effort to improve Nigeria’s money system is working.”
“This growth is because of new rules and plans we put in place. For example, we allowed more companies to send money to Nigeria and made it easier for them to access Nigerian currency.”
“Money sent from people living abroad is very important for Nigeria. It helps our country’s economy. Our plans are helping this money keep growing, and we want to keep seeing such growth every year.”
The CBN also shared that Nigeria’s statistical office has noticed a slow-down in how fast prices of things were rising. This shows that the CBN’s money rules are working well.
The CBN promises to keep an eye on the market and adjust its plans when needed. This will help ensure that more money from abroad keeps coming in, which helps keep Nigeria’s money market stable.
Things You Should Know
In January 2024, the CBN made a new rule. This rule removed the limit on exchange rates that money transfer companies could use when sending money to Nigeria.
Before this, these companies had to use rates that were only a bit different (-2.5% to +2.5%) from the previous day’s rate in Nigeria.
By the end of January, the CBN made new rules for these companies to follow. They increased the fee to apply for a money transfer license from N500,000 in 2014 to N10 million now. That’s a big change in 10 years.
They also said that companies must have at least $1 million to operate. Also, these companies couldn’t buy foreign money from the Nigerian market to do their work.
But with a new rule, it seems this ban has been lifted, and now these companies can trade on the official market again.
The CBN made a deal with these companies to work together to double the money sent into Nigeria. A special task force is responsible for this, and they report to Yemi Cardoso, the CBN Governor.
Also, the CBN recently gave temporary permits to 14 new money transfer companies, according to Hakama Sidi Ali, the CBN’s spokesperson.
All these steps by the CBN, like making processes smoother and bringing more companies on board, have helped increase the amount of foreign money coming into Nigeria.
And this increase in money sent to Nigeria shows that the CBN’s smart ideas are working well.