The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sold dollars to eligible Bureau De Change (BDC) operators at a rate of N1450/dollar, according to a statement by the acting director of the Trade and Exchange Department, AA Mahdi.
This move comes after the CBN sold $123m to authorised dealers earlier in the week, which the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) claimed excluded them. ABCON President, Aminu Gwadebe, stated that only banks received the forex intervention.
However, the CBN has now approved the sale of FX to eligible BDCs to meet the demand for invisible transactions. Each BDC will receive $20,000 at a rate of N1,450/$, representing the lower band of the trading rate at NAFEM in the previous trading day.
The CBN attributed this move to ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, aimed at addressing distortions in the retail end of the market that are feeding into the parallel market and widening the exchange rate premium. The bank warned BDCs to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1.5% above the purchase rate from CBN.
