The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday disclosed that it was closely monitoring the usage of naira-denominated cards for international transactions by bank customers, following the recent increase in the monthly spending limit announced by several commercial banks.
This is just as it emerged that some banks like Ecobank Nigeria, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) have decided to either restrict the increase to only their “priority” customers, or revert to the $100 monthly spending limit till further notice.
A top central bank official who spoke to THISDAY, pointed out that even though the banks did not get approval from the CBN before making the announcement increasing the monthly spending limits on the naira cards, the CBN has decided to continue to monitor activities in that segment of the market so as not to erode the gains recorded in the foreign exchange market.
“Even though we (CBN) didn’t give them approval before they made the announcements, we would not withhold the approval. But we felt they needed our approval before such announcement.
“But we will not withhold it because we know it was meant to support the market. We would continue to monitor activities in that market closely. We want to gauge the size of these transactions before we know what to do.
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