GTB slashes international transactions spending limit to $100 per month as forex scarcity bites harder

GTB is responding to Nigeria’s dollar shortages

One of Nigeria’s top lenders, Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB has slashed international transactions spending limit on its Naira Mastercard to $100 per month, following in the footsteps of other lenders such as Fidelity Bank which announced cuts on spending limit to $300 per months last week.

“Dear Customer, the monthly spending limit on your GTBank Naira Mastercard is now $100 for international transactions. Thank you for banking with us,” the lender said in a text message to its customers on Wednesday.

Also, read Nigeria bans maize importers from accessing forex

This move comes as financial institutions in Nigeria contend with the worsening scarcity of foreign exchange in the country, a situation which has also forced Nigeria’s central bank to devalue the local currency, the naira by adjusting the official exchange rate to N379/$1 from N361/$1.

Many have seen the apex bank’s move as part of efforts to unify the exchange rate and llthough the CBN has not officially announced that the N379 per $1 will be the unified rate, it is seen in many quarters as a major move towards ending the era of multiple rates as the shortage bites harder in Africa’s largest economy