PTA, BTA Request Drop Over Naira Depreciation – Bank Officials

Some banks have stopped attending to forex demand from their customers over foreign exchange crunch challenges, The PUNCH has learnt.

It was also gathered that new demand for Personal Travel Allowance and Business Travel Allowance reduced after the Central Bank of Nigeria unified the exchange rates in the country, making it more expensive to get.

A source who would not want to be quoted in one of the Tier 1 banks said, “We have stopped giving out PTA and BTA because we don’t have dollar. We still have a lot of pending requests that we have not been able to provide forex for.”

Speaking with our correspondent, another source who was not authorised to speak said, “Since the exchange rates were unified, we now sell at rates similar to the black market rate.

“We don’t have the forex to give out now, but when we had, we sold at rates above the closing I&E window. The demand has reduced drastically, even though, we still have a lot of requests we have not met.”

After commencing the free float of the national currency against the dollar and other global currencies in June, the banking regulator released its new report on ‘Understanding the operational changes to the foreign exchange market’.

By collapsing all segments in the FX market into the I&E window, it said this meant all eligible FX transactions in the market would only be done via the I&E window, as all other windows ceased to exist.

“The I&E market functions by a willing buyer, willing seller system, where an entity with demand for FX seeks out another entity with FX to sell at an agreed price through an authorised dealer,” the CBN stated.

On the concept of the willing buyer and willing seller model, it explained that the rates were mutually agreed by both parties.

The CBN said PTA, BTA and other invisible transactions would continue to be accessed through the banks at the prevailing market rate.

September 01, 2023