The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the sale of an additional $10,000 each to 1,583 eligible Bureau De Change (BDCs) in the country to meet market demands.
The Director, Trade and Exchange Department of the CBN, Dr Hassan Mahmud, made this known in a letter addressed to the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mahmud said that the CBN would sell to the BDCs at the rate of N1,021 to a dollar.
“The BDCs are in turn to sell to eligible end users at a spread of not more than 1.5 per cent above the purchase price,” he said.
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He directed all eligible BDCs to commence payment of Naira deposit to some designated CBN Naira deposit account numbers.
“All BDCs are advised to continue to abide by the rules and conditions as stipulated in our earlier operational guidelines,” he said.
The apex bank had earlier, on April 8, approved the sale of $10,000 to 1,588 eligible BDCs operators at the rate of N1,101 to the dollar.
The approvals are part of CBN’s intervention in the foreign exchange market to improve liquidity and stabilise the Naira.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959.[3] The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are to: maintain the external reserves of the country, promote monetary stability and a sound financial environment, and act as a banker of last resort and financial adviser to the federal government. The central bank’s role as lender of last resort and adviser to the federal government has sometimes pushed it into murky regulatory waters.
A bureau de change is a business which, in competition with other similar businesses, makes its profit by buying foreign currency and then selling the same currency at a higher exchange rate. It may also charge commission or fee on the purchase or sale.
