James Emejo in Abuja
The President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, has said the association will engage with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address and resolve all the issues that led to the recent ban on sale of foreign exchange to its members.
He said the planned engagement will seek to identify and sanction earring BDCs, where necessary.
In a statement, he clarified that the association was still providing foreign exchange services, in spite of the recent ban of sale of foreign exchange to its members by the apex bank.
He said the pronouncement by the CBN did not stop BDCs from providing foreign exchange services as allowed by their operating licences and also in their operating guidelines.
Gwadabe said, “BDCs are licensed to provide retail FX services, including buying from the public and also selling to end-users for allowable transactions namely Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), payment of medical and school fees.”
He said while the CBN had stopped dollar sale to BDCs, it has not cancelled their operating licences, or banned them from providing FX services to members of the public.
According to him, “while the dollar sale from CBN had helped in enhancing supply, the fact remains that BDCs are empowered to source FX from other sources and also to provide various services to members of the public.”
He said:”At ABCON, we urge our members to see the CBN pronouncement has a wake up call and opportunity to widen their customer base and deepen their business.
“ABCON has always worked with the CBN to ensure proper working of the FX market and in line with this principle, we will engage with the apex bank to address and resolve all the issues that led to the recent action, including identification and sanctioning of earring BDCs, where necessary.
“In addition to this, and in view of the fact that BDCs have been very effective in ensuring stable exchange rate, ABCON will work with relevant stakeholders including law enforcement agencies to develop a National BDC Policy with the aim of enhancing the contribution of the BDC subsector to the nation’s economy.”
