The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that it will not stop the sales of foreign exchange (FX) for payment of overseas tuition fees.
The clarification was made by the bank on Thursday, following reports that withdrawal of the ‘Form A’ discounted rate will take effect from December 31, 2022.
‘Form A’ is a statutory document that allows customers to purchase forex at the CBN or interbank rate to perform non-goods operations.
According to CBN, the reports quoted a tertiary institution in the United Kingdom as claiming that Nigeria had withdrawn the CBN “Form A discounted rate” in order to encourage more funds to remain within the Nigerian economy.
The advisory from the school reportedly urged new and returning students from Nigeria “to take advantage of the central bank Form A discounted rate while this is still available.”
According to the statement, Osita Nwanisobi, director, corporate communications department, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, described the report as false and the purported advisory, as misleading and speculative.
Nwanisobi said CBN had not issued such a policy, cautioning concerned parents and students to disregard any advisory to pay up as much portion of their outstanding fees as possible, through Flywire, prior to December 31, 2022.
The CBN spokesperson reminded all stakeholders that front-loading – for both visible goods and invisibles – was contrary to the provisions of extant regulations, and that the bank would continue to meet all legitimate demands for foreign exchange.
Nwanisobi, therefore, urged all authorised dealers to ensure that payments for tuition outside Nigeria were made no earlier than 30 days prior to the due date, charging them to put in place measures to forestall abuse.