In a fresh bid to stabilize the Naira and close the widening gap between official and parallel market rates, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the weekly sale of $150,000 to licensed Bureau De Change (BDC) operators. The directive, contained in a circular released late Tuesday, February 10, 2026, by the Director of Trade and Exchange, Musa Nakorji, marks a pivotal return of BDCs to the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
This move is specifically aimed at improving dollar liquidity for retail end-users who need foreign currency for personal travel, school fees, and medical bills.
To prevent a return to the “national embarrassment” of round-tripping and currency speculation, the apex bank has imposed ironclad operational rules. Under the new framework, BDCs are strictly prohibited from holding open foreign exchange positions. This means any unutilized funds must be sold back to the market within 24 hours. Furthermore, cash settlements are capped at just 25% of each transaction value, with the remainder handled through digital settlement accounts. By forcing BDCs to “use it or lose it” daily, the CBN hopes to cripple the hoarding practices that have historically devalued the Naira.
This liquidity surge coincides with a major fiscal shift led by Finance Minister Wale Edun. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Saudi Arabia on February 9, Edun confirmed that the federal government will begin selling state-owned assets to private investors throughout 2026.
This “asset optimization” strategy is designed to fund the national budget and attract foreign direct investment (FDI). Simultaneously, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has set a monumental revenue target of ₦40.7 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year—a 44% jump from 2025—to offset a sharp decline in external funding and overseas development assistance.
The NRS target of ₦40.7 trillion is built on a 2025 performance where the agency generated ₦28.3 trillion, driven largely by a 35% growth in non-oil tax revenue. To hit the new goal, the NRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, has announced that the agency will act as a “revenue system integrator,” taking over royalty collections previously handled by other regulators.
As Nigeria moves toward a “tax prosperity, not poverty” model, the combination of aggressive internal revenue generation and the CBN’s retail forex intervention represents a dual-track effort to restore macroeconomic stability and reduce the nation’s reliance on volatile foreign loans.
 has approved the weekly sale of $150,000 to licensed Bureau De Change (BDC) operators. The directive, contained in a circular released late Tuesday, February 10, 2026, by the Director of Trade and Exchange, Musa Nakorji, marks a pivotal return of BDCs to the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).){kind=link}