Gwadabe lamented that BDCs in Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja, Onitsha, Maiduguri, Benin and Enugu are yet to get a single dollar from these banks.
According to him, the BDCs are also selling between N345 and N355 to dollar, far above the interbank rate of N305 to dollar exchange yesterday. The banks, he added, are supposed to sell to the BDCs on the same day within the week, but have failed to do so.
“Instead of staggering the payment, the banks should sell to the BDCs on the same week day, so that the impact will be felt in the market. We also want the CBN to licence more International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to deepen the market,” he said.
“Our members across the country have funded their accounts since two weeks ago but the banks are not selling to them. The BDCs that met the CBN’s policy guidelines on the disbursement and cleared by the banks have still not received a dime from the banks,” he added.
Gwadabe also called on the CBN to outsource the dollar distribution role to independent distributor since the banks have failed in their assigned role.
“I think the banks are compromising the policy and CBN’s directive on the matter. And like I said earlier, since the banks are not co-operating, I expect the CBN to take that role from them and assign it to a reputable independent distributor,” he advised.
The CBN had directed through a circular to authorised dealers that all agents to approved IMTOs sell foreign currency accruing from inward money remittances to licensed BDCs.
It said the foreign currency proceeds of IMTOs sold to BDC operators shall be retailed to end users in accordance to CBN regulation. Also, only BDCs that have been cleared by the compliance department of the banks as fully compliant with the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement were allowed to buy.
The CBN issued a follow-up circular to all the banks, asking them to sell $50,000 weekly to BDCs.The directive was meant to ensure stability of the exchange rate and encourage participation of critical stakeholders in the foreign exchange market.
