Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has said it will comply with directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the rates to sell forex (foreign exchange) to their customers.
Nigeria is preparing to resume international flight operations from Saturday, September 5, 2020, and this has necessitated the need for the CBN to resume the sale of forex to BDC operators in the country.
Last Thursday, the apex bank said in a circular titled Resumption of sales to Bureau De Change operators and signed by the CBN Director, Trade and Exchange Department that it will resume the sale of forex to BDC operators from September 7.
Providing a breakdown of the rates, the apex bank said: “Please be advised that the applicable exchange rate for the disbursements of proceeds of IMTOs for the period Monday, August 31 to Friday, September 04, 2020, is as follows:
“IMTSOs to banks: N382/$1; Banks to CBN: N383/$1; CBN to BDCs: N384/$1; and BDCs to end-users: not more than N386 volume of sale to each market is $10,000 per BDC.”
It also gave the opportunity to over 5,000 CBN-registered BDCs to get $10,000 each at the twice-weekly auctions to be handled by approved agents across the six geopolitical zones.
Commenting on the latest development over the weekend, the president of ABCON, Mr Aminu Gwadabe, said his members will adhere strictly with the directive of the CBN, stating that the BDC remains the potent monetary tool of the apex bank exchange rate stability instrument.
“The resumption of sales to BDCs will in no doubt inject robust liquidity to the critical retail end sector of the market and usher in stability, discourage, hoarding and speculation,” Mr Gwadabe said.
He also said the association has embraced innovation, awareness and capacity building measures to guide members and ensure their total compliance to extant foreign exchange regulations.
The ABCON president equally added that the association expected a strong positivity in the market with the take-off of the policy.
As at Friday, the BDCs segment saw an improvement for the Naira over the US Dollar. In Lagos, the local currency gained 70 kobo to close at N476.30/$1 from N477/$1. In Abuja, the local currency appreciated by N3 to close at N474/$1 versus N477/$1. In Port Harcourt, the Naira gained N4 to sell for N472/$1 in contrast to the previous rate of N476/$1 while in Kano, it closed flat at N477/$1.
