Aminu Gwadebe, the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria revealed that Bureau De Change Operators were excluded in the latest tranche of forex sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria to authorised dealers in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH.
“It is their usual intervention at the NAFEM window which presently excludes the BDCs but is only for banks,” he said in the chat.
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On Friday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened in the foreign exchange market by selling the sum of US$122.67 million to 46 authorised dealers in its determination to promote stability and reduce market volatility.
A statement signed by Omolara Duke, CBN’s director in charge of financial markets, disclosed that of the total sale, US$67.5 million was sold to 27 authorised dealers. In comparison, US$2.5 million was bought from one authorised dealer on July 10, 2024.
Similarly, on July 11, 2024, US$55.17 million was sold to 19 authorised dealers at N1,540.0/US$, and no FX was purchased. The value date for the payments of the spot sale is July 15, 2024.
The statement urged all authorised dealers to ensure that foreign exchange purchases from the CBN are used exclusively for trade-backed transactions, which should be reported within 72 hours.
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Gwadebe stated that the apex bank had suspended supply to the BDCs since March.
“The BDC window has been suspended by the Central Bank of Nigeria since around March or so. The last time we were funded was around March,” he said.