News Naija
“No More N900/$”: BDC Operators Send Important Message to CBN As Naira Records Massive Gain Against US Dollar
Regarding the naira’s depreciation, ABCON has sent a heartfelt appeal to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This comes after the unofficial markets saw the naira significantly strengthen versus the US currency.
To increase the availability of dollars in the nation, the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has requested that the Central Bank of Nigeria sell foreign exchange to them.
Aminu Gwadebe, the president of ABCON, claimed in a phone conversation with Legit.ng that such a move would assist relieve pressure on the naira.
He emphasized that BDCs can significantly aid the CBN’s monetary policy and efforts to foster market stability.
Naija News Gossip in an earlier report, revealed that the CBN had excluded BDCs from accessing foreign exchange at the Investors and Exporters(I&E) window, which is the official forex market.
Aminu stressed that his members remain a critical component in the forex exchange markets, and should CBN reverse its decision; it will help reduce speculators’ power.
“The volatility of the naira is not because of purchase of dollars it is because of corruption, some people are benefiting from the distortions in the forex markets.”
Naira to dollar exchange rate
BDCs operator’s appeals come when the Nigerian currency, the naira, recorded an impressive recovery against the US dollar at unofficial markets.
The peer-to-peer markets are primarily utilised by cryptocurrency traders, while the black market refers to street-level transactions.
On Monday, August 14, 2023 the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Folashodun Shonubi, warned speculators that they would regret hoarding the US dollar to create artificial scarcity.
The warning proved effective, as evidenced by panic selling observed on Wednesday from customers who had stored foreign currency in anticipation of further weakening of the local currency.
Checks by WOTHAPPEN show that the naira, which exchanged as high as N950 a dollar on Tuesday, was sold at low as N850/$ at the black market on Wednesday afternoon.
Similarly, at the P2P market, one dollar was sold below N900 a dollar.
