Domiciliary Accounts: Experts Hail CBN’s Clarification

Business experts in Port Harcourt have commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for clarifying issues concerning the ban of domiciliary accounts by the apex bank.
The CBN had said on recently that it has not prohibited the acceptance of foreign currency cash deposits by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
The CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor made the clarification while speaking to newsmen in Abuja.
He explained that a domiciliary account is a type of current account that allows customer to fund it with foreign currencies such as dollars, pounds or euros and enables them to do foreign transactions.
The account, according to report, could be used to transfer money to another country or receive foreign currency from another country.
Okorafor also said that only electronic fund transfers into Domiciliary accounts could also be transferred from such accounts while cash deposits into such accounts could as well be allowed to be withdrawn in cash.
He said the clarification was necessary due to misrepresentation of facts and uncertainties surrounding the operations of domiciliary accounts in the country.
Reacting to the statement by CBN, the Director of I-Contact Connect, Dr. Larry Goodwill Ajiola said in a telephone interview with our correspondent that the move by the apex bank was a step in the right direction to help the business community, especially those that do electronic transaction with foreign currency.
He noted the need for electronic business men and women to always evaluate the market before venturing into it, saying that “Nigerians do not make sacrifice to learn through research but prefer to learn through experience”
Also, the Manager Abna Travels, a travelling agency in Port Harcourt, Mrs. Kate Emenike told The Tide that the rumour was really spreading before the apex bank came out with the clarifications.
She said the action of CBN was commendable and would lay to rest the effect of the rumour on business owners.