The Bureaux De Change (BDCs) are at the heart of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) exchange rate policy, according to the Association of Bureaux De Change of Nigeria (ABCON).
Aminu Gwadabe, the president of ABCON, announced this at a press conference in Lagos. He said that while the central bank has maintained the suspension of forex sales to BDCs, this does not result in the licenses being revoked because the operators are still subject to CBN regulations.
According to Gwadabe, the CBN continues to implement its exchange rate policy primarily through small retail exchange institutions, or BDCs. As a result, the regulator and general public must continue to support BDCs’ contributions to exchange rate stability.
This, he continued, may be accomplished by increasing the automation of their procedures and by supplying more channels for transactions to enable long-term price stability and eliminate speculation, rent-seeking, and currency substitution.
I am very confident that Nigeria will in the not too distant future appreciate a stable exchange rate and the availability of forex in the local economy as long as the right people for government policies’ implementation get such responsibility,” he stated.
He claimed that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had attempted to enact a number of measures that went beyond the traditional money supply and were out of step with market reality.
Gwadabe praised the Naira-4-Dollar program, which offers a N5 bonus for every $1 in remittances from Nigeria’s diaspora as well as an N65 rebate for every dollar in non-oil export proceeds and other incentives. However, the program needs a complete overhaul with the participation of all stakeholders.
“I am not a prophet of doom or student of continuing naira depreciation, but unless fundamental goodwill and courage are demonstrated, the naira will continue to suffer loss in exchange for the greenbacks,” Gwadabe maintained.
He claims that the typical BDC operator with a CBN license is in a coma and on the verge of extinction.
