Business

DMO Reveals How Petrol Subsidy Raised 2022 Borrowing By N1trn

Published

3 years ago

September 27, 2022

The nation’s public debt stock is being increased by the petrol subsidy as the government had to borrow N1 trillion to subsidise petrol this year, the Director-General of the Debt Management Office, DMO, Ms. Patience Oniha has said.

In a presentation at the Executive Course on Budgeting and Fiscal Transparency at the Army Resource Centre in Abuja, yesterday, she attributed the current debt stock to budget deficit, noting that the borrowing plan for 2022 was increased by N1 trillion to enable the government to pay the extra cost of petrol subsidy.

Despite the public debt stock of $42.8 billion, Ms. Oniha said remained within acceptable limits and sustainable,

Speaking on the topic, Debt Sustainability Challenges and Strategic Revenue Mobilisation Initiative, the D-G said that the federal government had to resort to borrowing to fund the budget due to revenue challenges.

She said that the DMO was deploying World Bank and International Monetary Fund tools to ensure the sustainability of Nigeria’s public debt.

According to her, “These tools include an annual Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and a Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) every four years.”

In addition, she said, “Maturities in the Public Debt Portfolio are well spread to avoid bunching of maturities and to ease repayments of maturing obligations. The Domestic Debt portfolio has securities with tenors ranging from 91 days to 30 years, while the External Debt Portfolio has securities ranging between 5 years to 30 years.”

She explained that despite criticisms of the government’s borrowing, Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio remains among the lowest globally.

She pointed out that while Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio was 23.06 percent, countries such as Angola (136.54%), South Africa (69.45%), Ghana (78.92%), United States (133.92%) and United Kingdom (104.47%) have higher ratios.

She however stressed that Nigeria was not alone in rising levels of public debts, pointing out that across the globe, governments were borrowing more to meet with economic and social challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Governments across the world borrow. Globally, debt levels are growing, but it is not a new trend. Debt levels were already rising prior to Covid-19 crisis when compared to 2014. Globally, sovereign debt grew from 49 percent of GDP in 2014 to 57.9 percent in 2019 and in sub-Saharan Africa, from 35 percent of GDP in 2014 to 55 percent in 2019. In Nigeria, this ratio rose from 13 percent in 2014 to 19 percent in 2019”, she stated.

The DG also explained that the government was not just borrowing for borrowing sake, emphasizing that the loans would enable the government to finance critical infrastructure with multiplier benefits (job creation, movement of persons and goods) and overall GDP growth.

She noted that the country was facing a revenue crisis, adding that it has become very important for the government at all levels to pay more attention on how to increase revenue generation as a means of reducing borrowing.

The DMO boss noted that Nigeria was performing poorly in terms of revenue, as she said that the country had a far lower revenue record than it could generate.

She said that the federal government has taken a number of measures to grow its revenue, while urging citizens and corporate bodies to pay their taxes in order to make funds available for the government to finance the various much-needed infrastructural facilities, across the country.

The D-G added that the issuance of federal government securities had several benefits for both the citizens and corporate organisations.

They included being safe investment opportunities with regular returns and being the vehicle for mobilizing large pools of funds from domestic and international sources for investments in capital projects

She added that the development of the domestic financial sector; Liquid assets for banks and other institutions who need to hold such assets; attracting foreign investors into the domestic markets; and providing sovereign yield curves in the domestic and international markets, against which other issuers such as State Governments, private sector entities and multilaterals can issue securities to raise capital were major advantages of the exercise.
VANGUARD

Business

Full List: 82 Newly Approved, Fully Licensed BDC Operators

Published

3 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted final operating licences to 82 Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators under its revised regulatory framework, reinforcing warnings against transactions with unlicensed foreign exchange dealers.

In a statement on Monday, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, confirmed that the licences took effect on November 27, 2025, in accordance with the 2024 Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for BDC Operations. The guidelines require all operators to meet specified capital thresholds and regulatory conditions to qualify for licensing.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria, in exercise of its powers under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and the 2024 Guidelines, has granted final licences to 82 Bureaux De Change to operate with effect from November 27, 2025,” the statement read.

The apex bank emphasised that only BDCs listed on its official website are considered fully licensed, urging the public to verify the status of any operator before engaging in foreign exchange transactions.

“While the CBN will continue to update the list of Bureaux De Change with valid operating licences for public verification on our website, the Bank advises the general public to avoid dealing with unlicensed Foreign Exchange Operators,” the statement warned.

The CBN noted that operating a BDC without a valid licence constitutes an offence under Section 57(1) of the BOFIA 2020, and confirmed that legal action would be taken against non-compliant operators.

TIER 1

1 DULA GLOBAL BDC LTD

2 TRURATE GLOBAL BDC LTD

TIER 2

1 ABBUFX BDC LTD

2 ACHA GLOBAL BDC LTD

3 ARCTANGENT SWIFT BDC LTD

4 ASCENDANT BDC LTD

5 BARACAI BDC LTD

6 BERGPOINT BDC LTD

7 BRAVO MODEL BDC LTD

8 BRIMESTONE BDC LTD

9 BROWNSTON BDC LTD

10 BUZZWALLET BDC LTD

11 CASHCODE BDC LTD

12 CHATTERED BDC LTD

13 CHRONICLES BDC LTD

14 COOL FOREX BDC LTD

15 CORPORATE EXCHANGE BDC LTD

16 COURTESY CURRENCY BDC LTD

17 DANYARO BDC LTD

18 DASHAD BDC LTD

19 DEVAL BDC LTD

20 DFS BDC LTD

21 EASY CASH BDC LTD

22 ELELEM BDC LTD

23 E-LIOYDS BDC LTD

24 ELOGOZ BDC LTD

25 ENOUF BDC LTD

26 EVER JOJ GOLD BDC LTD

27 EXCEL RIJIYA FOREX BDC LTD

28 FABFOREX BDC LTD

29 FELLOM BDC LTD

30 FINE BDC LTD

31 FOMAT BDC LTD

32 GENELO BDC LTD

33 GENTLE BREEZE BDC LTD

34 GRACEFUL GLORY AND HUMILITY BDC LTD

35 GREENGATE BDC LTD

36 GREENVAULT BDC LTD

37 HAZON CAPITAL BDC LTD

38 HIGH-POINT BDC LTD

39 I & I EXCHANGE BDC LTD

40 IBN MARYAM BDC LTD

41 JOURNEY WELL BDC LTD

42 KEEPERS BDC LTD

43 KHADHOUSE SOLUTIONS BDC LTD

44 KIMMELFX BDC LTD

45 KINGSOFT ATLANTIC BDC LTD

46 M.S. ALHERI BDC LTD

47 MASTERS BDC LTD

48 MCMENA BDC LTD

49 MKOO BDC LTD

50 MKS BDC LTD

51 MR J GOLF BDC LTD

52 MUSDIQ BDC LTD

53 MZ FOREX BDC LTD

54 NEJJ BDC LTD LTD

55 NETVALUE BDC LTD

56 NEW WAVE BDC LTD

57 NOTABLE AND KINGSTON BDC LTD

58 PILCROW BDC LTD

59 RAPID BDC LTD

60 RIGHTWAY BDC LTD

61 RWANDA BDC LTD

62 SABLES BDC LTD

63 SAFETRANZ BDC LTD

64 SAMFIK BDC LTD

65 SEVENLOCKS BDC LTD

66 SHAPEARL BDC LTD

67 SIMTEX BDC LTD

68 SOLID WHITE BDC LTD

69 ST. NICHOLAS GLOBAL BDC LTD

70 TOPFIRST UNIQUE MULTICHOICE BDC LTD

71 TOPGATE BDC LTD

72 TRAVELLER’S CHOICE BDC LTD

73 TUCA GLOBAL BDC LTD

74 TURBOVA BDC LTD

75 TURN-UP BDC LTD

76 UNIGO BDC LTD

77 VICTORY AHEAD BDC LTD

78 WHITEWAY WWW BDC LTD

79 YUND GLOBAL LINK BDC LTD

80 ZAMAD FOREX BDC LTD

Business

CBN Issues 82 New BDC Licences, Moves To Curb Unregistered FX Operators

Published

3 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted final operating licences to 82 Bureaux De Change (BDC) under its updated regulatory framework and cautioned members of the public against engaging with unlicensed foreign exchange operators.

In a statement issued on Monday and signed by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, the Bank said the licences became effective on 27 November 2025. The approvals were granted under the 2024 Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for BDC Operations in Nigeria.

The CBN stressed that only BDCs listed on its official website are recognised as licensed operators. It encouraged the public to verify the licensing status of BDCs before engaging in any foreign exchange transactions.

The Bank reiterated that running a BDC without proper authorisation constitutes an offence under Section 57(1) of the BOFIA 2020. It stated that enforcement actions would be taken against violators.

The licensing exercise forms part of the CBN’s broader initiative to reform the foreign exchange market and ensure that only compliant operators participate in the sector. Under the 2024 guidelines, which took effect in June 2024,
all BDCs are required to reapply for Tier 1 or Tier 2 licences.

The guidelines stipulate minimum capital requirements of ₦2 billion for Tier 1 and ₦500 million for Tier 2, along with non-refundable licensing fees of ₦5 million and ₦2 million, respectively.

The CBN said it would continue its efforts to maintain order and transparency in the foreign exchange market.

Business

JUST IN: CBN Removes Cash Deposit Limits, Raises Weekly Withdrawal To N500,000

Published

1 week ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed cash deposit limits and also increased the weekly cash withdrawal limit from N100,000 to N500,000.

The CBN made this known in a circular to all banks and other financial institutions, signed by Dr Rita Sike, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department.

Sike said that the revisions formed part of ongoing efforts to moderate the rising cost of cash management and address security concerns.

According to her, it will also curb money laundering risks associated with heavy reliance on cash.

She said that the cash-related policies previously issued in response to evolving circumstances were aimed at reducing cash usage and promoting the adoption of electronic payment channels.

“However, with time, the need to streamline and update these provisions to reflect present-day realities became necessary,” she said.

She said that with effect from Jan. 1, 2026, the cumulative deposit limit would be removed and the fee previously charged on excess deposits would no longer apply.

The director said that the cumulative weekly withdrawal limit across all channels has been reviewed to N500,000 for individuals and five million Naira for corporates.

“Withdrawals above these thresholds will attract excess withdrawal charges as specified,” she said. “The special monthly authorisation that allowed individuals to withdraw five million Naira and corporates N10 million once a month has been abolished.”

She said that for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), daily withdrawal remains capped at N100,000 per customer, with a maximum of N500,000 weekly.

She said that this formed part of the overall weekly withdrawal limit applicable to all channels, including point-of-sale (POS) transactions.

Sike said that excess withdrawals above the stipulated limits would attract three per cent for individuals and five per cent for corporate customers.

According to her, this will be shared in the ratio of 40 per cent to the CBN and 60 per cent to the operating bank or financial institution.

She directed banks to load all currency denominations in ATMs, while the existing limit on over-the-counter encashment of third-party cheques remains pegged at N100,000.

Sike said that such withdrawals would be counted as part of the cumulative weekly limit.

The director said that banks were also required to render monthly returns to the relevant supervisory departments.

She listed the departments to include the Banking Supervision Department, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, and the Payments System Supervision Department.

Sike said that revenue-generating accounts of federal, state, and local governments were exempted from the new withdrawal rules.

She said that accounts of microfinance banks and primary mortgage banks held with commercial and non-interest banks are also exempted from the new rules.

She, however, said that the long-standing exemption previously enjoyed by embassies, diplomatic missions, and aid-donor agencies had been removed.