President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to use Bureaux De Change (BDCs) to end multiple rates and promote stability in the foreign exchange (forex) market.
CBN operational manual defines BDCs as small retail and institutions licenced to do the business of selling Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA) and payment of school fees and medical bills abroad, among others roles at the critical part of the forex market.
Gwadabe said the various policies of CBN on the operations of the sub-sector continue to hinder and limit the BDCs from providing their constitutional role in the forex market and economy.
“The various polices of the CBN on the operations of the sub-sector continues to inhibit and limit the BDCs from providing their constitutional roles in the forex market and the economy,” he said.
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He, therefore, canvassed better collaboration between the CBN and the BDCs in the implementation of market-friendly policies, adding that such synergy would enable the BDCs to impact more positively on the market and promote exchange rate stability in the economy.
Gwadabe said the hasty generalisation that criminalises the BDCs sub-sector was responsible for market crisis and infractions like selling dollars with higher premium above regulatory limit, promoting loss of confidence in the market, adding that multiplicity of the exchange rates was not in the best interest of the market and the economy.
“It is in view of this disturbing situation and the need to strengthen BDCs value chains obtainable in organised climes that we urge the regulators and policy makers to consider BDCs as the most potent tool in liberalising the foreign exchange market and ending multiple exchange rates in the system,” he said.
He restated the association’s commitment to boosting liquidity in the forex market, fulfilling its regulatory mandate of bringing forex closer to the end users and supporting the CBN’s goal of achieving sustainable exchange rate stability.
“We, therefore, urge the regulators to consider our proposal for the creation of Bureaux De Change Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (BAFEX) to replicate the Import and Export (I&E) window initiative and address concerns of stakeholders like Nigerians in the Diaspora, foreign investors, international financial institutions and others about the market stability,” he added.
