By Dipo Olowookere
In a move to defend the value of the Naira against the United States Dollar in the parallel market segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has allotted $20,000 to each authorised Bureaux De Change (BDC) operator in the country.
The apex bank confirmed this development in a statement signed by its acting Director for Trade and Exchange Department, W.J. Kanya.
It was stated in the circular that the forex was sold to the FX traders at an exchange rate of N1,590/$1 and have been warned not to sell to their customers above N1,605.90$1.
Business Post reports that this value is still below the rate the Naira was traded at the official market on Wednesday, N1,667/$1 and N1,695/$1 at the black market.
“This is to inform the BDC operators and the general public that the CBN will be providing additional liquidity to this segment of the FX market.
“To this end, the CBN has approved the sale of $20.000 to each eligible BDC at the rate of N1,590/$1. This is to meet the demand for invisible transactions.
“All BDCs are allowed to sell to eligible end-users at a margin of not more than 1 per cent above the purchase rate from the CBN.
“Eligible BDCs interested in this transaction are directed to make the Naira payment to the CBN deposit account numbers with them.
“Also, payment confirmation and all necessary documentation for disbursement are to be submitted at the appropriate CBN branches in Abuja, Akwa, Kano and Lagos for collection of the $20,000,” the disclosure on Thursday stated.
Adedapo Adesanya