Yemisi Izuora
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given approval for the sale of foreign exchange (FX) to eligible Bureau de Change (BDC) operators at 1,450 naira to a dollar.
The Bank said the sum of $20,000 is to be sold to each BDC at the rate of N1,450/$ (representing the lower band of the trading rate at NAFEM in the previous trading day).
In a statement on Thursday, CBN’s Acting Director in Charge of Trade and Exchange Departments, Aliyu Mahdi, said the apex bank has observed the continued distortions in the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium.
“Following the ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, to achieve an appropriate market determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued distortions in the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the Parallel market and further widen the exchange rate premium,” the statement partly read.
“To this end, the CBN has approved the sales of FX to eligible Bureau De Change (BDCs) to meet the demand for invisible transactions’.
According to the apex bank, all BDC operators are allowed to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1.5 per cent above the purchase rate from CBN.
The financial regulator instructed all eligible BDCs to make naira payments to CBN’s naira deposit account numbers and submit confirmation of payment with other necessary documentation for disbursement at its branches in Abuja, Akwa, Kano and Lagos.