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A circular from the CBN’s Trade and Exchange Department on Thursday authorised the sale of dollars to pilgrims to the 2016 Hajj at a ‘concessionary rate’ of N197 to the dollar.
According to the circular said that a minimum of $750 and a maximum of $1,000 can be sold to a total of 65,000 pilgrims.
By selling far below its current official rate of N318 to a dollar, the CBN is subsidising forex for Hajj with about N8 billion wheras the scarcity of forex has put inflation on the upward way and forced business out of existence.
This is in addition to the fact that about 41 items are banned from being eligible for imports with forex, education and medical tourism inclusive.
Some Nigerians are reacting: