Bureau De Change (BDC) operators that violated Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) guidelines on foreign exchange (forex) sales will be identified for sanctions, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said yesterday.
In its maiden statement after the CBN stopped $10,000 weekly allocation per BDC and licensing of new operators, ABCON said despite the current challenges, BDCs are still in business.
ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, has assured members of the public that BDCs are still providing forex services.
He said ABCON has always worked with the CBN to ensure proper working of the foreign exchange market.
He said the group will engage with the apex bank to address and resolve all the issues that led to the recent action, including identification and sanctioning of earring BDCs, where necessary.
He stressed that the recent pronouncement of the apex bank does not stop BDCs from providing forex services as allowed by their operating licenses and also in their operating guidelines.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had announced at the close of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja Tuesday, that weekly allocation to BDCs will no longer be supplied to the operators over breach of operational guidelines.
Gwadabe said BDCs are licensed to provide retail foreign exchange services, including buying from the public and also selling to end-users for allowable transactions namely Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), payment of medical and school fees.
“While the dollar sale from CBN had helped in enhancing supply, the fact remains that BDCs are empowered to source foreign exchange from other sources and also to provide various services to members of the public,” he had said.
“While the CBN has stopped dollar sale to BDCs, it has not cancel their operating licenses, or banned them from providing foreign exchange services to members of the public”, he added.
“At ABCON, we urge our members to see the CBN pronouncement as a wakeup call and opportunity to widen their customer base and deepen their business.
“In addition to this, and in view of the fact that BDCs have been very effective in ensuring stable exchange rate, ABCON will work with relevant stakeholders including law enforcement agencies to develop a National BDC Policy with the aim of enhancing the contribution of the BDC sub-sector to the nation’s economy,” he said.
The naira yesterday closed at N525/$1 at the parallel market, stronger than N522/$1 it closed on Wednesday.
– The Nation