Financing your exports: The unending FX battle with the CBN

In August last year, many banks like UBA, Fidelity, and First Bank reduced their international monthly spend limits to $100 monthly. So, if you wanted to get an outfit or pay for a course that cost more than $100 with your debit card, you were basically on your own and had to look for alternative means to carry out your transaction.

This has become common, especially whenever the economy is going through a contraction; we saw it in 2015, 2016, and last year, when dollar revenue from crude oil sales reduced significantly. 

Sometimes these restrictions are targeted at specific people. You attempt to withdraw money from the bank and notice that your card isn't working, only to get to the bank and realise that you have been restricted from banking transactions by the central bank. Like when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) froze the accounts of 38 companies—including betting