Aminu Gwadabe, president, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria has said BDC operators now sell US dollars at N1,020/$ while they buy at N980/$.
Gwadabe who featured as a guest on Channels’ Business Incorporated program on Tuesday said that the appreciation of the naira happened faster than expected, commending the central bank and the presidency on the feat.
The BDCs president stated that with the current exchange rate, it would be the first time since 15 years that the parallel market will be lower than the official window.
“For the first time in history over the past 15 years, the open market is lower than the CBN’s rate,” Gwadabe said.
“What you’re seeing now is to show, what happened before has no economic fundamentals. It’s just a bubble, and the bubble has burst,” he added.
Commenting on what the CBN had done to calm the FX market, Gwadabe noted that the unification of the exchange rate has brought convergence which has led to a single market.
He added that the end of FCY collateral made a lot of people start dumping dollars, noting that the commencement of the sale of diesel and jet fuel by the Dangote refinery has also eased the pressure from dollar demand from oil companies.
On the path to sustainability, Gwadabe stated that the CBN must recognise the BDCs as agents for IMTOs as it will recalibrate diaspora remittance flows.
“BDCs can act as a last mile for IMTOs, bringing in $15-20 billion to the FX market annually,” he said.
The naira hit a seven-month high of 1,000 per US dollar at the black market on Tuesday, a remarkable turnaround for a currency that had looked destined to hit 2,000/$ barely two months ago.
Analysts have said clues of where the naira is headed in the short-term may lie in the rate at which the CBN sells dollars to BDC operators during an auction this week.
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