Amid Dollar Scarcity: GTCO Advises Customers To Invest In Its Dollars Scheme, Promises Investors Rewards

Amidst the US dollar scarcity, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) has advised its customers to invest in Dollars to get annual returns on their investments.

BrandNewsDay reports that one of the leading Nigerian banks, GTBank’s mother company GTCO Plc has reeled out an investment programme tagged ‘Our Dollar Fund and Earn Dollar-Returns with a 4-5% Interest Per Annum‘.

The commercial bank made this supposed exciting offer in its newly launched investment saving scheme, Our Dollar Fund and Earn Dollar Returns.

Meanwhile, this GTCO Dollar Investment Scheme is coming up amid the shortage of circulation of the United States currency, the dollar, in the country.

The US Dollar scarcity has lingered in the country since late 2020 when the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele ordered the stoppage of sales of dollars to the licensed Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country, claiming that the BDC operators fast-track the sales of the US dollars to terrorists which they in turn, purchase of proliferation of arms to disunite the country.

At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria hit the Bureau De Change (BDC) for illegal forex trading and stated that it will henceforth discontinue the sale of forex to the Bureau operators in Nigeria.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, also announced a stop to the licensing of new Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and further processing of BDC applications for forex across the country.

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On the one hand, to balance the fall of the Naira to the dollar, the CBN Governor has faulted Aboki FX, an online foreign exchange rate website, abokiFX that makes the daily update of the Dollar to Naira exchange (black market) rate. Governor Emefiele said that the company is in charge of instigating the sudden surge of The dollar to the Naira rate in the country.

The CBN had directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to set up teller points in designated branches for the sale of foreign exchange to meet legitimate forex requests of their customers.

Amid Dollar Scarcity: GTBank Advises Customers To Invest In Its Dollars Scheme, Promises Investors Rewards

On the other hand, after the Aboki FX’s website stopped its daily publication of the dollar to naira exchange (black market) rate; however, the trend of free fall of Naira to other foreign currencies continues on a steady flow.

In 2020, in another effort made by the apex bank to restore the losing glory of the Nigerian currency, the CBN unveiled its ‘Dollar 4 Naira’ scheme, whereby recipients receive an N5 on every $1 sent from abroad through remittances. This development from the apex bank shows an attempt by the CBN to stand shoulder to shoulder with the black market and other unofficial avenues of receiving foreign exchange. 

“CBN Naira 4 Dollar Scheme”, an incentive for senders and recipients of international Money Transfers.

”Accordingly, all recipients of diaspora remittances through CBN licensed IMTOs shall henceforth be paid N5 for every USD1 received as remittance inflow.

”In light of this, the CBN shall, through commercial banks, pay to remittance recipients the incentive of N5 for every USD1 remitted by the sender and collected by the designated beneficiary. This incentive is to be paid to recipients whether they choose to collect the USD as cash across the counter in a bank or transfer the same into their domiciliary account”.

This was in a bid to increase the circulation of the dollar flow in the market to foster investors’ payment and give them easier access to their oversea businesses. These, among others, are the efforts put in place by the apex bank to salvage the Naira from its massive falls.

It behoves you that there have been several hikes in prices of commodities, food prices among other things in the country this was reportedly linked to the continuous increase in the dollar to the naira exchange rate. As of the time of this writing, Naira to Dollar at the Black Market rate is about 705/709; while the CBN rate is at the rate of N428.11. Despite that, there has been a panic buying of dollars by Nigerians ahead of the coming festivity period.

Pro to that, the central bank was said to have injected about 7.6 Billion Naira into the economy to stabilise the value of the naira.

According to the reports, the CBN intervened in the markets with $1.65bn, $1.39bn and $1.82bn in January, February and March, while the interventions were $1.56bn and $1.18bn in April and May respectively.

The report read, “Total foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers by the bank were $1.18bn, a decrease of 24.4 per cent, below $1.56bn in April.

“A breakdown shows that foreign exchange sales at the Investors and Exporters and interbank/invisible windows decreased by 37.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent to $0.16bn apiece, below their respective levels in the preceding month.

In the midst of all that, Guarantee Trust Bank under its mother company GTCO has introduced another way of stacking many Nigerians’ dollars in its bank by its newly introduced scheme, Our Dollar Fund and Earn Dollar Returns.

BrandNewsDay reports that GTBank made this disclosure in an email sent to its customers titled ‘Grow and Preserve Your Wealth In Dollars’, whereas the intent is to draw the bank customers and other Nigerians to come and stake their dollars in what the bank called an ‘investment’.

The commercial bank that sells the US dollar at the rate of N490 per $1 as against the CBN naira to dollar official rate today, 15 September 2022 sells at the rate of N428.11.

The email reads, get started today by investing in our Dollar Fund and earn dollar-denominated returns with a 4-5% interest per annum.

”Our Dollar Funds is for you if you want to:

• Grow and preserve your wealth in dollars
• Hedge against inflation and diversify your savings and investments
• Invest in medium to long-term

What You Should Know

• GTBank sells the US dollar at the rate of N490 per dollar
• GTCO launches an investment scheme tagged ” that makes customers lock their dollars amid dollar scarcity
• GTBank rate is largely different from the Central Bank’s official rate

Why did GTBank come up with an initiative like this at a pressing time (Dollar scarcity) like this?

What are the Nigerian bank’s intentions; to make life easier for its customers or to increase investors’ hardship in the search for dollars?