They stated that they will not reconsider their decision to use Bureaux De Change (BDCs) after the move caused the naira to plummet to a historic low.
The naira fell to N570 per dollar on Friday, down from approximately N520 two weeks ago on the parallel market. The official market currency has varied with an average of N411.
The drop in the black market was precipitated by the suspension of FX sales to registered money changers, whom the CBN has accused of fraud and round-tripping.
The decrease has exacerbated pricing volatility because many companies rely on the black market for dollar sales, despite the CBN's statement that banks have been directed to satisfy all genuine requests.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, told media Friday after the central bank announced that it will keep the monetary policy rate at 11.5 percent that the CBN took too long to intervene against the BDCs.
“The only exchange rate market is the Investors and Exporters window, which we expect everyone who wants to buy or sell dollars to use,” Mr Emefiele explained.
“I'm sorry, but I don't recognize any other market. Why did we have to wait so long, we wondered at the CBN.
“The CBN remained the world's only central bank to dip its hands into our commonwealth mad pack dollars to BDCs all in an effort to stabilize the exchange rate.
It's a bad decision in my opinion. It has come to an end for good. Even though they exist, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserves of the United States do not sell dollars to BDCs.
It beyond my mind that persons involved in fraud and corruption are allowed to operate illegally,” he added.
Mr Emefiele stated that banks have been instructed to satisfy any legal demand for foreign exchange, and that the CBN is prepared to back even demands that exceed the permitted limit, as long as they are lawful.
The bank maintained all monetary policy parameters as follows: policy rate at 11.5 percent, with an asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 percent, and Liquidity Ratio at 30%.
