The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday resumed the sale of foreign exchange to eligible Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, amidst a decline in the value of the naira.
The naira fell to 1,570/$ at the parallel market, down from 1,565/$ on Wednesday.
The CBN sold dollars to BDCs at a rate of 1,450/$, with each operator entitled to purchase $20,000. The apex bank warned BDCs to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1.5% above the purchase rate from CBN.
According to the President of the Association of Bureau de Change of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadebe, the decline in the naira’s value is due to “acute shortages, speculative activity, public hedging to guide inflation, and the surge in demand from recent duty waivers on certain critical food imports”.
However, Gwadebe noted that the sale of forex to BDCs will ease liquidity in the market and enhance confidence. He urged members of the association to comply with regulations and appealed to the CBN to consider allowing all BDCs to form new partnerships in line with the new regulations.
The naira closed at 1,566.82/ $273.14m, an improvement from Wednesday’s 1,581.65/$ with a daily turnover of $108.16m.
