The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will now wait until September 7 before it resumes dollar sales to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators after the date for resumption of international flights initially fixed at August 29, was postponed till September 5.
The CBN had in an initial document seen by BusinessDay said it would resume “gradual” sales of dollars to BDC operators on Monday, August 31.
The CBN has long held that it will only resume sales of dollars to the BDCs once international flights, which were suspended due to the pandemic, resumed.
When dollar sales to BDCs resume, the CBN will sell dollars to them at a rate of N384/$ while the BDCs are to sell to end-users at no more than N386/$, according to a separate document seen by BusinessDay.
The naira exchanged for around N477 per US dollar on the streets Thursday, with traders saying they expected rates to reduce when the CBN resumes dollar sales.
The CBN also said it will now sell $10,000 weekly to each BDC. That’s 86 percent lower than the $75,000 weekly sales that were done before a suspension due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown in the country.
In the same document, International Money Transfer Operators are to sell dollars to banks at N382/$, while the banks sell to the CBN at N383/$.
With the date for resumption of international flights initially fixed at August 29, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Thursday announced a new date of September 5.
Musa Shuaibu Nuhu, Director-General of the NCAA, said “non-aviation logistics” prompted the one-week extension, during a Presidential Task Force COVID-19 briefing in Abuja.
