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The Central Bank of Nigeria announced on Monday that it has reduced foreign exchange rates for retail customers requiring FX for invisibles such as school fees, medical bills, and travel allowances. The apex bank said retail customers can now purchase FX at all commercial banks for N360 per dollar.

“The CBN to sell forex to banks at N357/$1, while banks will sell to their customers at N360/$1 for invisibles (travel allowances, medicals, fees, etc),” the apex bank said in a statement signed by Isaac Okorafor, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN. “CBN directs banks to post new rates in the banking halls of their branches immediately.”

The CBN said it would send examiners to visit banks in order to ensure the new rates are implemented.

“CBN prohibits banks from selling forex funds meant for invisibles to Bureau de Changes (BDCs),” the apex bank said.

Last month, the CBN announced that it would begin selling FX to banks for meeting retail demand as part of efforts aimed at increasing FX accessibility and bridging the gap between the official and parallel market rates. Since then, the parallel market rates have fallen from about N455 per dollar to N380 per dollar in Lagos today. At the interbank FX market, the official rate is currently N307 per dollar.