Third parties will henceforth be sidelined in forex payment which will now go directly to goods and services providers, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has announced.
This was made known by O.S. Nnaji, the director of trade and exchange of the CBN.
He said, “As part of continued efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure prudent use of foreign exchange resources and eliminate incidences of over-invoicing, transfer pricing, double handling charges, and avoidable costs that are ultimately passed to the average Nigerian consumers, Authorised dealers are hereby directed to desist from opening of Forms M whose payment are routed through a buying company/agent or any other third-parties,” the memo read.
“All authorised dealers are hereby requested to only open form M for letters of credit, bills for collection and other forms of payment in favour of the ultimate supplier of the product or service”.
The bank said the “directive is with immediate effect”.
CBN also revealed that it will henceforth follow the best practices in approving forex for the purchasing of goods and services abroad
“Additionally, in line with best practices around the world, the CBN will be immediately introducing a Product Price Verification Mechanism to forestall over-pricing and/or mispricing of goods and services imported into country,” the bank added.
“All authorised dealers shall use this mechanism to verify quoted prices before Forms M are approved.”