… As Naira Falls To N1,640/USD
The Central Bank of Nigeria has resumed foreign exchange sales to Bureau de Change operators as FX scarcity deepens.
The sales are coming a few months after the bank stopped selling forex to BDCs and subsequently withdrew all their licenses.
But in a fresh twist, the CBN has commenced FX intervention to traders at N1,450 per dollar as part of a move to tame the rate at which the currency depreciates.
CBN disclosed the development in a statement on Thursday signed by the acting director of the Trade and Exchange Department at the CBN, AA Mahdi.
The CBN said, “Following the ongoing reform in the foreign exchange market with the objective of achieving an appropriate market-determined exchange rate for the naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria has observed the continued distortion in the retail end of the market which is feeding into the parallel market and further widen the exchange rate premium.
“To this end, the CBN approved the sales of FX to eligible Bureau De Change to meet the demand for invisible transactions. The sum of $20,000 is to be sold to each BDC at the rate of N1,450/$ (representing the lower band of the trading rate at NAFEM in the previous trading day).”
The CBN warned beneficiaries against selling to in-eligible end users. The bank also warned BDCs not to sell the FX more than 1.5 per cent of the purchase price from the CBN.
The central bank was also forced to intervene in the official market by selling $123m to authorised dealers.
The naira has depreciated to N1,640 per dollar since the bank announced a new recapitalization exercise for BDCs.
The CBN issued a ‘Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau on Change Operations in Nigeria 2024’ for compliance by all operators and promoters of proposed BDCs in Nigeria
The guideline mandated BDCs to “Re-apply for a new license according to any of the Tiers or license category of their choice as provided in the Guidelines.
“Meet the minimum capital requirements for the license category applied for within six months from the effective date of the Guidelines.”
THE WHISTLER reported that operators are expected to apply for either of the two categories- ‘Tier one’ or ‘Tier two’ with a minimum capital requirement of N2bn and N500m respectively.