The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revealed that it would soon stop making foreign exchange, forex, available to Nigerians seeking to use it for medical tourism and to pay school fees abroad.
This was as it noted that medical bills and school fees constituted as much as 15 percent of Nigeria’s forex demand.
Disclosing this after its meeting with Deposit Money Banks, DMBs, under the auspices of the bankers’ committee in Abuja, CBN disclosed that it would be focusing on releasing forex to the manufacturing sector, which would in turn grow the local economy.
Director of CBN banking supervision department, Tokunbo Martins, who addressed journalists after the meeting, said the pain would be temporal, and it would drive real growth in the nearest future.
According to her, “It is something that affects all of us, and I think that the watchword is belt tightening. It is pain we may need to go through today, so that there will be long term development in the country.
“If you think about it, the pressure on forex now from school fees abroad is significant. The pressure medicals are significant. At what point should we begin to look inward? As Nigerians, we also need to be patriotic in terms of our sentiments.”
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