The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has relaxed its foreign exchange controls, allowing travelers to receive 25% of their personal and business travel allowances in cash, reversing last year’s all-electronic mandate.
The announcement came during the high-profile launch of the 4th edition of the Foreign Exchange Manual in Abuja, an event that signaled the apex bank’s most comprehensive rewrite of its FX operational framework in recent memory. The revised manual is set to take effect on June 1, 2026.
For seasoned watchers of Nigeria’s foreign exchange landscape, the policy shift carries more than passing significance. In 2024, the CBN had taken a firm stance, directing that all PTA and BTA payments be processed exclusively through electronic channels, debit cards, credit cards, and digital transfers.
Cash disbursements were expressly prohibited, a measure the bank said was designed to enhance transparency and clamp down on FX malpractices that had long plagued the system.
Barely a year on, the regulator is walking that position back, at least partially.
Under the revised framework, 75% of PTA and BTA allocations will continue to flow through electronic channels, while the remaining 25% may be paid out in cash. The CBN has been careful to frame the adjustment not as a retreat but as a calibration one that brings PTA and BTA disbursements in line with the updated Bureau de Change guidelines and addresses what it describes as “operational bottlenecks” faced by authorized dealers, corporates, and other FX stakeholders.
“Under the revised structure, 75% of PTA and BTA will be disbursed electronically, while 25% may be paid in cash,” said Dr. Muhammad Abdullahi, the CBN’s Deputy Governor for Economic Policy Directorate, addressing attendees at the Abuja launch.
The move, while modest in scale, acknowledges a hard truth that industry operators have long voiced: a blanket electronic-only policy, however well-intentioned, created friction in a market where not all beneficiaries or service points are fully equipped to handle end-to-end digital transactions seamlessly.
Beyond the PTA and BTA revision, the 4th Edition FX Manual reads as a broad and ambitious attempt to modernize Nigeria’s foreign exchange architecture. Several of its provisions reflect a regulatory philosophy increasingly aligned with international standards and with the practical demands of a globalizing Nigerian economy.
Among the most consequential changes is a significant upward revision of allowable advance payments for imports, rising from 15% to 30%. For importers who have long complained about liquidity constraints tied to the previous ceiling, the adjustment could meaningfully ease cash flow pressures in trade financing.
The manual also provides welcome relief for Nigerian students studying abroad. Tuition fee payments for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs will now be permissible up to $25,000 per semester, a provision that directly addresses the often-painful remittance experience families face when funding overseas education.
The allowance for services and charges denominated in foreign currency has also been formally recognized under the new framework.
In a move that is likely to be welcomed by exporters, Form NXP processing will now be free of charge, while the manual also makes provisions for service exports, transactions through the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), and non-resident investment accounts, the latter being a significant gesture toward attracting diaspora and foreign portfolio investment.
Perhaps one of the more liberalizing aspects of the new manual is its treatment of domiciliary accounts. Export proceeds holders and ordinary domiciliary account holders will now enjoy unrestricted access to their funds, while Form A, previously a mandatory requirement for domiciliary remittances, has been scrapped entirely.
For businesses and individuals who have repeatedly cited bureaucratic red tape as a deterrent to keeping funds within the formal banking system, these changes could prove meaningful in encouraging greater onshoring of foreign currency earnings.
Despite the relative loosening of some restrictions, the CBN has been emphatic that the reforms do not signal a relaxation of oversight. The revised manual is being made available to authorized dealers at no cost, a move the regulator says is aimed at ensuring broad awareness and compliance.
The bank has also stressed that it will maintain ongoing monitoring across the FX system to ensure accountability is upheld.
The overarching goal, as the CBN frames it, is a foreign exchange market defined by clarity, transparency, and operational efficiency, one that functions smoothly for participants ranging from the solo traveler seeking a modest PTA allowance to large corporations navigating complex import financing arrangements.
The revised manual arrives at a delicate moment. Nigeria’s FX market has been through several years of turbulence, from the unification of exchange rate windows to bouts of naira volatility and persistent dollar scarcity.
The CBN’s reforms under its current leadership have drawn both praise for their bold market-oriented direction and criticism from those who argue implementation has at times been inconsistent.
The reintroduction of cash as a permissible component of travel allowance disbursements will inevitably draw scrutiny. Critics of the original 2024 cash ban may see this as an admission that the policy was too rigid; proponents of that ban will want assurances that the 25% cash window does not become a vector for the very FX abuses the electronic mandate sought to eliminate.
For now, the CBN appears to be betting that a hybrid model anchored largely in electronic disbursement but flexible enough to accommodate on-the-ground realities strikes the right balance.
Whether the market agrees will become clearer once the 4th Edition FX Manual officially enters force on June 1, 2026.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The CBN’s revised FX Manual represents a pragmatic policy correction reintroducing 25% cash disbursement for PTA and BTA after last year’s all-electronic mandate proved operationally restrictive.
While the change is modest, it is part of a broader liberalization effort that includes higher import advance payment limits, free-of-charge export form processing, expanded tuition remittances, and unrestricted domiciliary account access.
Nigeria’s apex bank is loosening the grip on foreign exchange controls to reduce friction and improve efficiency but with oversight firmly intact.
When the manual takes effect on June 1, 2026, both everyday travelers and major FX market players should expect a more flexible, if still tightly monitored, operating environment.
