Some customers of commercial banks in the country who applied for the $4,000 Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) as part of requirements in processing their travelling abroad have expressed frustrations following the rationing of Dollar among applicants due to scarcity.
A customer who visited one of the banks in Allen area of Lagos said she was surprised when she was handed $2,500 dollars of the $4,000 due her under the statutory provision on Personal Travel Allowance (PTA).
She was told the balance would be given to her within seven working days.
Thousands of applicants go through this harrowing experience as they get their PTA in two or three tranches depending on what is available in the banks’ vault. Some get $1,000, $2,000 or more and are asked to access the balance in their dollar debit cards, which are usually not enough for their spending needs abroad because of banks’ spending limits.
It was however gathered that some applicants for PTA have, however, found ‘smarter’ ways of getting their dollar supply by having multiple applications in different banks thus challenging the effectiveness of commercial bank measures at rationing.
