Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, through their associates have assured members of the public that money changers are still providing foreign exchange services.
Aminu Gwadabe, President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) gave this assurance stressing that the recent pronouncement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not stop BDCs from providing foreign exchange services as allowed by their operating licenses and also in their operating guidelines.
“BDCs are licensed to provide retail FX services, including buying from the public and also selling to end-users for allowable transactions namely Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), payment of medical and school fees.
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He added that while the dollar sale from CBN had helped in enhancing supply, the fact remains that BDCs are empowered to source FX from other sources and also to provide various services to members of the public.
“While the CBN has stopped dollar sales to BDCs, it has not canceled their operating licenses, or banned them from providing FX services to members of the public”, he added.
“At ABCON, we urge our members to see the CBN pronouncement as a wakeup call and opportunity to widen their customer base and deepen their business.
“ABCON has always worked with the CBN to ensure proper working of the FX market and in line with this principle, we will engage with the apex bank to address and resolve all the issues that led to the recent action, including identification and sanctioning of earring BDCs, where necessary.
“In addition to this, and in view of the fact that BDCs have been very effective in ensuring stable exchange rate, ABCON will work with relevant stakeholders including law enforcement agencies to develop a National BDC Policy with the aim of enhancing the contribution of the BDC subsector to the nation’s economy”, he said.
From Cross River, the vice-chairman of ABCON Cross River State Chapter Abdulahi Ibrahim says the decision by the CBN to ban BDC operators from accessing foreign exchange and forex trading should be reviewed.
Abdulahi who is also the managing director of Shanono Nigeria Limited disclosed that the action will further worsen the Nigerian economy.
Reacting to the recent ban by the apex bank, he said the move if not reviewed immediately will bring untold hardship on families who depend on forex trading to earn their living.
He said though there are some bad eggs in the system like in every other profession, this blanket ban by the CBN is totally unfair treatment as many families will lose their livelihood.
“As a body of professionals we are working hard to sanitize the system, instead of the ban, let them increase the price and give us the dollar because it will cause job losses to our members nationwide.”
He appealed to the CBN to rescind its decision on its members as the policy is not in the interest of the Nigerian economy.
