CBN dismisses report of stopping overseas school fees, Form A withdrawal

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed media reports that it will withdraw ‘Form A’ discounted foreign exchange (FX) window and effectively stop the funding of overseas school fees, saying it will continue to meet all legitimate requests.

The apex bank urged parents, students, and other members of the public to disregard the reports as false and speculative.

The reports suggested that payments of overseas tuition fees from Nigeria will cost more from January 2023 due to the purported withdrawal of the ‘Form A’ with effect from December 31, 2022.

A Manchester-based university reportedly issued the advisory urging students whose tuitions were paid from Nigeria to pay up a large portion of their outstanding fees as possible, through Flywire, before December 31, 2022, claiming that the Central Bank planned to withdraw the “Form A” discounted rate.

Through the window, parents are able to access FX at a discounted rate to fund tuition and other school expenses of their wards abroad.

But the CBN described the reports which quoted the UK tertiary institution as unfounded. It urged Nigerians “to take advantage of the Central Bank Form A discounted rate while it is still available.”

CBN Director, Corporate Communications Department, Osita Nwanisobi, told journalists that the purported advisory and report were false, misleading, and speculative.

While also reminding all stakeholders that front-loading (for both visible goods and invisible) was contrary to the provisions of extant regulations, the CBN spokesman assured them that the bank would continue to meet all legitimate demands for foreign exchange.

The spokesperson urged all authorised dealers to ensure that payments for tuition outside Nigeria are made no earlier than 30 days prior to the due date, even as he charged them to put in place measures to forestall abuse. (The Guardian)