A Bill to repeal the Foreign exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous) Act, 2004 has passed second reading in the House of Representatives. The Bill seeks to improve on extant provisions by proposing the establishment of a foreign exchange market in addition to further regulation for the monitoring of transactions conducted in the said market.

Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary session of Wednesday, 1st November 2017, sponsor of the Bill, Hon. Chukwudi Jones Onyereri (PDP: Imo) stated that the Bill’s proposals would promote the effective regulation of the Nigerian financial industry and improve financial system stability under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He also stated that the Bill would create the necessary legal framework to achieve Nigeria’s goals of stability and growth in the sector.

In addition, Hon. Onyereri expressed concern over the outdated laws governing foreign exchange in the country, stating that many were out of touch with recent developments in the foreign exchange market. He also outlined the obsolete laws in the sector as one of the major reasons why the Bill was important and then urged other lawmakers to vote in favour of the Bill.

The debate, which was unanimously adopted, has been referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency for further legislative input.