The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the sale of foreign exchange (FX) to eligible bureau de change (BDC) operators at a rate of N1,450 per dollar.
This move aims to meet the demand for invisible transactions and address the ongoing distortions in the retail end of the FX market.
In a statement on Thursday, A.A. Mahdi, CBN’s acting director of trade and exchange department, highlighted the issues affecting the market.
“Following the ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, with the objective of achieving an appropriate market-determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued distortions in the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium,” Mahdi stated.
To address these distortions, the CBN has sanctioned the sale of FX to eligible BDCs. Each BDC is authorized to receive $20,000 at the rate of N1,450 per dollar, representing the lower band of the trading rate at NAFEX (Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market) from the previous trading day.
The CBN has stipulated that BDCs may sell to eligible end-users at a margin not exceeding 1.5 percent above the purchase rate from the CBN.
Additionally, the CBN has directed all eligible BDCs to make naira payments to its naira deposit account numbers. They must also submit confirmation of payment along with other necessary documentation for disbursement at the appropriate CBN branches in Abuja, Akwa, Kano, and Lagos.
