Today is the deadline for bureau de change (BDC) operators in the country to meet the new and augmented minimum capital requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its recently revised directives.
CBN increased the capital base for ‘money-changers’ by 25 percent, representing N35 million as against the former N10 million. Mandatory cautionary deposit was equally reviewed from N3 million to N35 million to be deposited in a non-interest yielding account with the CBN. While, licensing fees was also increased from N500, 000 to N1 million, with an annual renewal fee of N25, 000 jerked-up from N10,000.
Nigeria’s apex bank says very high number of traders seeking dollars has caused a dwindling of foreign-currency reserves in the country, dropping 17 percent from a year before.
Though lawmakers a couple of weeks ago derided the tighter rules for BDCs saying it could “worsen the unemployment rate” economists have for the most part hailed the new policy saying it will shore up reserves for the Central Bank and boost the naira before the 2015 general elections.
More-so, the CBN would have improved oversight of bureaus de change, Bismarck Rewane chief executive officer of Lagos-based Financial Derivatives Co., told Bloomberg in a phone chat, the move could help stamp out the illegal movement of dollars by terrorists used to import arms.
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