Nigerian banks have informed their customers that the processing time for obtaining forex for international school fees may be increased to 120 days from 48 hours.
Banks also reduced personal travel allowance (PTA) and business travel allowance (BTA) dollars by approximately 50 and 60 percent, respectively, to $2,000 from $4,000 and $5,000.
Form A is a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) application form used to pay for service transactions (invisible trade) such as foreign tuition, training courses, and medical bills.
Nigerian students studying abroad can use the form to obtain foreign exchange at the official rate rather than the parallel market, which is always significantly higher.
Recall the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, saying the number of Nigerian students seeking foreign education for the depletion of the foreign reserves.
Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $3.43bn in 2022, according to figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The CBN disclosed in its movement on external reserves figures that the reserves stood at $40.52bn as of the end of December 31, 2021, and ended December 29, 2022, at $37.09bn.
First Bank
First Bank informed its customers that foreign exchange requests would continue to be handled on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to FX availability.
“Payment of PTA/BTA is subject to a maximum of $2,000 and two quarters in a year, while funds will be disbursed within the week of the trip. Customers are encouraged to apply for PTA/BTA some weeks ahead of their trip,” the notice reads in part.
“Application for upkeep is subject to a maximum of $1,500 (or its equivalent in other currencies) per semester and limited to 2 semesters per session. “Payment of school fees is subject to a maximum of $7,500 (or its equivalent in other currencies) per semester and limited to 2 semesters per session.
“A minimum of 16 weeks is required for processing school fees and upkeep/maintenance, after the submission of documents along with the approved Form A at the branch.”
“Application for Form A for school fees, student upkeep, and PTA/BTA, must be processed on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) and must be in line with regulatory requirements.”
Access Bank
Access Bank also notified its customers of the changes in an email.
“PTA and BTA requests have now been processed a maximum of twice annually per applicant at a cost of $2,000 per application, where the request is within 14 days of the travel date. International school fees and upkeep requests are processed within 120 days of approval.
“All applications are processed and disbursed subject to FX availability of proper documentation, provided the account to be debited is sufficiently funded to cover the Form A charge and other processing fees.”
“Kindly ensure your account is sufficiently funded to accommodate the value of the transaction and charges at the time of processing, “as any request not backed by an adequately funded account or the required documentation will be rejected and considered a new request upon re-submission.
“Updates on pending approved or rejected Form A requests are duly posted and accessible on the Trade Monitoring System portal.”
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