The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced a free foreign exchange deposit window for banks in the country with instructions on how to implement it.

The procedures for commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks to join the programme were outlined in the rules that the CBN published on Tuesday.

John Onojah, the acting director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, and Dr. Adetona Adedeji, the acting director of the Banking Supervision Department, jointly signed the notice of the scheme guidelines, which go into effect on Wednesday.

The “Guidelines On Implementation Of The Foreign Currency Disclosure, Deposit, Repatriation And Investment Scheme, 2024” paper states that banks are free to deal with the foreign exchange that scheme participants make available.

“Commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks may trade with any deposited ITFC (Internationally Tradable Foreign Currencies) not immediately invested by a participant, provided that the funds would be made available to the participant when needed.

“Interest payment by CMNIBs on the balance in the designated domiciliary account shall be in line with relevant provisions of the Guide to Charges by Banks and Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria,” part of the guidelines read.

The Nigerian government recently announced a nine-month scheme that will allow people to deposit dollar bills held outside of the official banking system without being scrutinised. The program will start on October 31, 2024.

In its most recent instructions, the apex bank also said that banks must request information such as a Tax Identification Number (for legal people) or a Bank Verification Number and National Identification Number (for natural persons and directors of incorporated businesses).

The applicant’s designated domiciliary account details, the amount of the ITFC to be deposited, and any other information the bank may occasionally need are among the other criteria.

Additionally, the CBN insisted that banks not violate anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing, and anti-proliferation financing rules and regulations.

According to a poll released on Wednesday, higher school costs and a mid-month spike in fuel prices are said to have contributed to Egypt’s inflation, which rose to 27.0% in October.

According to the median prediction of 17 analysts, annual urban consumer inflation rose from 26.4% in September to 27% last month, marking the third consecutive month that annual inflation has increased. The information was gathered between October 31 and November 6.

“The rise in October will be primarily driven by a likely revision in education costs, typically accounted in October,” Sri Virinchi Kadiyala of ADCB said.

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund inked an $8 billion financial assistance deal in March that calls for Egypt to raise a number of domestic prices in order to adopt a less inflationary monetary policy.

According to central bank data, Egypt’s M2 money supply increased by an apparent all-time high of 29.59% year over year in September, contributing to inflation.

Fuel hikes of 10-15% around the end of July and another 11-17% increase in mid-October, a 25-33% increase in metro tickets at the start of August, and a 21-31% increase in energy tariffs in August and September all contributed to the annual inflation gain.

After hitting a record high of 38.0% in September 2023, inflation has been steadily declining. For the first time since January 2022, the central bank’s lending rate became positive in July, rising to 28.25%.

“We do still expect for inflation to slow over the remainder of Q4 and more sharply in Q1 2025 to allow the central bank to start its monetary loosening cycle,” James Swanston of Capital Economics said.