Ahead of funding account on Friday and business reopening on Monday, Bureau de Change (BDC) operators have called on the Central Bank of Nigeria of Nigeria (CBN) to review the advised exchange rate of N386 per dollar to charge the end users.
The CBN is set sell dollars to the BDCs at a fixed rate of N384 to the dollar and they are expected to sell to their customers at N386 to the dollar. However BDC operators say the profit margin is too small and would not be enough to cover their operating expenses.
Speaking at a webinar for members of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) on ‘Resumption of Foreign Currency Sales to BDCs; Covid-19 Challenges, Compliance and Way Forward’, Aminu Gwadabe, president of the association, said the major challenges that is being faced by its members is the small margin.
“The challenge that we are facing is the smaller margin. Right now, the parallel market is doing about N430 and our pegged rate is N386 to the dollar. So, we still see a gap between the advised exchange rate of N386 by the CBN and what is obtainable presently in the market.”
The current margin he said “cannot cover our cost of operation. We are asking the CBN to please look at this and that review it for us.” Gwadabe also urged the CBN to allow for the use of virtual documentation which he said would help in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The challenge of Covid-19 is still with us and we are asking them to put a clause on the use of virtual identification of documents. What that means is that I don’t need to see you as my customer, bringing your passport,” he said.
The association announced on Wednesday that funding of transactions for disbursement would commence in four zones of the country, starting from September 4.
Discussing the procedures in the new resumption, Gwadabe told participants that they are not new, but due to Covid-19 and as an institution, the BDCs must observe some certain measures that are being played down by the government.
“We have Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Awka Zones; these are our four services providers; and in Port Harcourt, the travelex are back, they are the ones to detect the disbursement of foreign Currency to our members in the zone.
“So we are happy to announce to CBN that our waiting areas are ready and we are engaging the payment service providers in all the five payment services areas to ensure we have smooth operation,” he said.
Gwadabe said as part of readiness to resume operations, the association had introduced a queuing management systems called” 360 QMS” to allow members work virtually from the comfort of their homes.
– Businessday