TheCable

Guaranty Trust Bank has lowered the international spending limit on its naira Mastercard to $500 a month.

This was contained in a notice sent to customers on Friday.

The review affects online and POS transactions.

“Dear customer, the monthly spending limit on your GTBank Naira Mastercard is now $500 for international transactions,” the notice read.

In an earlier notice to customers, the bank had earlier announced a downward review of the monthly spending limit from $3,000 to $1,500.

“We would like to inform you that the monthly spending limit on your GTBank naira Mastercard has been reviewed from $3,000 to $1,500 for your international online and POS transactions effective March 25, 2020,” the bank had said in its earlier notice.

Zenith Bank had also announced a similar course of action; setting international withdrawal limit at $1,000 a month.

The bank had also set daily limits for withdrawals outside Nigeria have been set at $300.

This was the method adopted by banks in 2015 at the onset of the dollar crunch which was caused by a drop in crude oil prices.

Nigeria’s economy slipped into a recession in 2016.

Crude oil prices have witnessed a sharp decline on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

As a result, the federal government has slashed the 2020 budget by N1.5 trillion and reviewed the budget benchmark to $3o per barrel.