The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria has solicited the Central Bank of Nigeria’s support in ensuring that Bureaux De Change operators continue to sell dollars to end-users.
In a notice to its members nationwide, the ABCON National Executive Council appealed to the regulator to revisit the stoppage of dollar sales to the BDCs to bring lasting stability to the naira.
The group disagreed with claims that the naira has remained largely stable and converging following the stoppage of dollar allocation to the BDCs.
According to ABCON NEC, BDCs remain the most potent tool for the CBN to achieve its foreign exchange rate management.
It stated, “Our position to the CBN is that our members should be considered in whatever mechanism of dollar supply to the end-users as it is done in other countries instead of a total blanket removal from the market.
“We, therefore, reject the statements claiming that the naira exchange rate has improved following stoppage of dollar sales to BDCs and urge our members to ignore those pronouncements.”
The ABCON NEC said it would continue to take steps that ensure that the businesses of its members are restored and operators continue their legitimate operations as is done in other parts of the world.
It stated, “We the excos are not sleeping on our responsibility to ensure that our members’ businesses are sustained.
“We, therefore, call on all our members to continue to ignore statements against the BDCs and continue to give us the necessary supports in ensuring normalcy is restored to the market.”
It added that the ABCON management would continue in its collaboration, lobbying, media campaign, and stakeholders’ engagements to ensure that the BDC operators were given the right support and opportunity to thrive as is done in several other economies in the world.
It said, “The naira exchanges at N416.25/$ at the official market. However, at the parallel market, where the majority of forex is sourced by manufacturers and retail end-users, the naira exchanged at N587/$, representing over N170 premium between both markets.”
It added, “It is on records that the stoppage of FX sales to BDCs did not only create higher demand pressure but also made the value of our national currency useless.”
