First Bank of Nigeria Limited led the list of commercial banks receiving foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the latest published returns. The bank led others  with a total returns of $25,701,921.17.

Commercial banks have been publishing weekly returns of dollar receipts from the CBN and its utilization.

In the second place is Zenith Bank Plc with $23,811,329.77,  while Stanbic IBTC Limited followed with  $20,618,105.09.

Here is the list

• First Bank – $25.7 m
• Zenith Bank – $23.8m
• Stanbic IBTC – $20.6 m
• Standard Chartered Bank – $17.7m
• Diamond Bank Plc – $17.69 m
• GTB  – $15.8m
• Ecobank Nigeria Limited –  $14.68m.
• Union Bank of Nigeria Plc – $12.5
• Access Bank Plc  – $11.9
• Citibank Nigeria Limited — $9,2m
• Fidelity Bank Plc — $7.4m
• United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) Plc — $6.7m
• Sterling Bank Plc – $4.79
• Keystone Bank Limited – $3.73

The breakdown further indicates that end users of the forex use it for purchase of fuel, machinery and pharmaceuticals etc, school fees and foreign investors seeking to exit the Nigerian market. Dollar scarcity triggered a massive depreciation of the Naira in the last week with the exchange rate going from N300 to N400 in over a week in the black market. The CBN has insisted that the parallel market is not the ideal benchmark for the price of the dollar insisting on the official rate which it last devalued in February 2015.

The post above and its ensuing comments, if any, is purely the opinion of the writer(s). It therefore should never be considered as an investment advise of any sort. If required, readers should please consult a competent professional financial adviser for any investment decision.