By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerians living in the country have been given a nine-month grace period to return all Dollar cash in their possession to the financial system or risk being punished.
This ultimatum was given by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, when he briefed journalists on the outcome of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting chaired by the Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, on Thursday in Abuja.
It is believed that this new move is part of the strategies the federal government is taking to address the incessant foreign exchange (FX) crisis depleting the value of the Naira against the Dollar in the currency market.
The government is planning to mop up Dollars beyond the legal limits outside the formal banking system since it is not the legal tender in Nigeria.
“There is going to be a release today, details by the federal government through the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with the Central Bank (of Nigeria), a programme, starting today, October 31, and lasting nine months, that will allow people to bring in cash that is outside the banking system.
“Therefore, it is unsafe, it is unsecured and it is outside of legal limits. They will allow forbearance to bring dollar cash. Let me emphasise once again that it is to bring dollars that they are holding outside the system; to be able to bring them in and credit them to their bank accounts, as long as it is not proceeds of crime or illicit money. There will be no penalty, there will be no taxes, and there will be no questions.
“They just meet the normal Know Your Customer criteria of banks and they have an opportunity to bring in those funds, make them safe, make them secure, and make them available through normal economic activity.
“The details of that, the guidelines of that, will be released; first of all, the announcement by the Ministry of Finance and the guidelines will be followed very quickly by the central bank.
“That is an opportunity, not just for people who would normally like to comply, to be compliant with the laws and normal business practice, but of course, it gives us an opportunity to bring those dollars from where they are doing nothing to where they are within the financial system; they add to our reserves, and of course can help with the exchange rate,” the Minister said yesterday.