By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in the country it does not intend to devalue the Naira and will support it at current levels, especially with a recent rise in oil prices.
President of Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Mr Aminu Gwadabe, disclosed that the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, gave them this assurance during a meeting with him.
Mr Gwadabe noted that the apex bank’s chief revealed that he was looking at ways to boost Dollar liquidity on the official market to eliminate the spread to the parallel market.
According to him, the CBN will resume sales of Dollar proceeds of International Money Transfer (IMT) to BDC operators next week.
The ABCON boss stated that Mr Emefiele also dismissed as untrue speculations that the apex bank would reintroduce mandatory caution deposit of N35 million.
CBN had returned the mandatory caution to BDCs last year following the cancellation of direct sales of Dollars to them.
It commenced the sale of dollar proceeds of IMT to BDCs in August last year as part of measures to boost Dollar supply in the retail segment and also stem the depreciation of the Naira in the parallel market.
However, the sale was suspended last month due to the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Adedapo Adesanya