On 27th of last Month, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that it had stopped sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change, (BDC), operators and also halted the registration of new players.
Bureau de Change, BDC in Nigeria is a retail foreign exchange dealer carrying on the business of Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), medical and school fees, and also to carrying on inward and outward transfer.
BDC was meant to receive a weekly supply of FX from the CBN for onward sale to retail end-users, that is, people who needed $5,000 dollars or less.
However, the money changers illegally traded Forex to the tune of millions of dollars per transaction, making huge profits while Nigerians suffered from the “dollarisation” of the Nigerian economy, besides speculative, rent-seeking behaviour and money laundering, according to CBN governor Godwin Emefiele.
Reacting, some residents of Oyo State said they were not aware of the recent steps taken by CBN.
However, other residents viewed government’s decision as being in the interest of the country, noting that some bureau de change operators were abusing the process.
A forex operator in Ibadan, Alhaji Sanni Tahir, who said that the move was not a blanket ban of Forex trading by BDC, explained that CBN’s action only affected licensed BDC operators, who would have to find alternative source for foreign currency.
Alhaji Tahir pointed that customers who deal with operators outside BDC have sites where they keep abreast of forex trends and exchange rate.
Simeon Ugbodovon
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