CBN clears 3,114 BDCs for IMTOs dollar purchase
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cleared 3,114 bureaux de change (BDCs) to buy dollars sourced form International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).
Presdent, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) Aminu Gwadabe who disclosed this, said the IMTOs cash will be purchased this week. He said the naira closed yesterday at N463 to dollar.
According to Gwadabe, the ongoing volatility in the market was due to the scarcity of dollar especially at the BDCs segment of the market.
The ABCON boss also said the CBN will next week, raise the weekly dollar supplies to BDCs from $8,000 to $15,000.
There are at present, 35 licensed IMTOs approved by the CBN which include Aftab Currency Exchange Limited, AWS Malta Limited, Caperemit UK Limited, Centrexcard Limited, Colony Capital Limited among others.
Others are Ria, Western Union, MoneyGram, WorldRemit RANS-Fast Remittance, UAE Exchange Center LLC, Wari limited, and Home Send S.C.R.L among others to help Nigerians in Diaspora remit dollar home and boost dollar liquidity.
Also, the interbank forex market recently traded $540,000 in early deals at N375 per dollar, near a record low exchange rate hit last November, Thomson Reuters data showed. The local currency traded at a record low of 375.50 to the dollar last November on the official interbank market before it reversed losses.
The interbank market traded a total of $3.77 million at multiple exchange rates, the data showed. It was quoted at 305.25 per dollar.
In February the CBN effectively devalued the naira for private individuals, offering to sell them the currency at around half the premium charged at the black market, in a bid to narrow the spread on the unofficial market.
On Monday, the CBN asked lenders to set up tellers for retail customers to buy and sell dollars in order to ensure access to hard currency. The regulator also asked banks to process demand for retail forex users within 48 hours.
By: Collins Nweze – thenationonlineng
