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Nigeria’s central bank to sanction deposit banks over cheque errors

Published

1 year ago

October 18, 2023

Nigeria’s central bank has announced plans to sanction Deposit Money Banks, DMBs, whose equipment distorts images and data being transmitted during the cheque truncation process from November 1st 2023.

The CBN in a circular to all DMBs titled: “Circular on the revised Nigeria Cheque Standards (NCS) and Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS): Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) reject”, advised DMBs to examine their in-house cheque processing equipments to ensure that they are properly calibrated and supervised.

“Recall that the CBN issued the NCS and NICPAS, version 2.0 on September 18, 2018, to increase the efficiency and security of the Nigeria Clearing System,” read the circular, which was signed by Mr Sam Okojere, Director of the Banking Services Department.

“It has come to our notice that MICR rejects have been on the increase and in furtherance of the bank’s effort to reduce the number, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are hereby directed to contact their personalizers and reiterate the need to revalidate the MICR code line details for correctness in accordance with the NCS and NICPAS version 2.0.

“Furthermore, both the presenting and receiving banks should also thoroughly examine their in-house cheque processing equipment to ensure that they are properly calibrated and supervised to eliminate distortion of image and data being transmitted during the cheque truncation process.

“Note that the bank will monitor compliance with the provision of this circular and any bank with MICR reject starting from 1st November 2023 would be penalized in accordance with the Sanctions Grid. Please be guided accordingly.”

Nigeria’s banking sector is crucial to the country’s growing availability of financial services, goods, and access. Approximately 133.5 million bank accounts were open as of 2021, while approximately 120 million savings accounts were in existence.

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

3 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.