Bureau De Change Operators Flay CBN Over Suspension Of Dollar Sales

Bureau de Change operators have said decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to stop dollar sales to them portends grave implications for the economy.

This was disclosed at the end of a national delegate meeting of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) held in Lagos on Friday, January 15.

Acting President of the association, Aminu Gwadabe, who briefed the media at the end of the meeting attended by zonal leaders across the country said the decision will lead to emergence and taken over of bureau de change operations by black market operators which he said is dangerous to the nation’s economy.

His said: “First is the spike in the parallel market exchange rate from N270 to N290 per dollar within three days of its pronouncement and now N305 per dollar. Over time, this would lead to increased scarcity of dollars even for legitimate activities and further depreciation of the naira”.

Gwadabe added that given the import dependency of the country and the inability of importers to access dollars in the official market, the increased exchange rate would aggravate the inflationary pressure in the economy as prices of goods and services will rise in response to the continued depreciation of the naira.

“Despite the banning of 41 items from the nations foreign exchange market, the CBN has not been able to meet demand for legitimate items even in the official foreign exchange market. The result, according to a recent report by Recap, is that Nigerian banks are battling with dollar obligations in excess of $5 billion.