ABCON commends CBN for dollar sales to BDCs

The Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the resumption of dollar sales to Bureaux De Change (BDCs).

ABCON President, Dr. Aminu Gwadabe, in a statement, said aside monetary policy tightening that led to interest rate hike and more investment in government instruments and clearance of $7 billion forex backlog forward commitments, the recall of the BDCs has significantly boost dollar liquidity at the retail end of the forex market.

Gwadabe therefore expressed ABCON’s gratitude to the Cardoso-led CBN and other related agencies for the recognition of BDCs as the third leg of the foreign exchange market and an effective exchange rate transmission mechanism in forex management.

He said: “The reconsideration of the BDCs into the main stream foreign exchange market has not only demystified illegal economic behaviours such as   hoarding, rent seeking, round tripping and FX holding position, but also led to the emergence of   exchange rate convergence.”

Gwadabe said that the stability in exchange rate has already started to have positive impact on the prices of goods and services. For instance the price for international school fees has dropped by 15 per cent; cost of medical tourism reduced by 20 per cent and prices of air fares for local and international trips dipped by 25 per cent.

Gwadabe said the success story is unending as naira trades at N1,255/$ on Saturday, even lower than N1,269.765 rates BDCs were advised to sell.

Describing the ongoing market development as revolutionary, Gwadabe  said stable naira will attract more foreign portfolio inflows to the economy.