The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement measures to limit non-oil exporters’ access to foreign exchange (FX) through the official market.
ABCON’s president, Aminu Gwadabe, emphasized the need for such action to enhance the availability of dollars in the market and bolster the country’s financial reserves, thereby supporting the Naira’s recent gains against the dollar.
Gwadabe proposed that non-oil export domiciliary account holders be restricted from obtaining FX through the official window.
He suggested adopting a policy similar to that of South Africa, limiting the holding of currencies in non-oil export accounts to a maximum of 48 hours.
Gwadabe stated, “We, therefore, advise you to review the guidelines on holding currencies on non-oil export accounts to a maximum of 48 hours to borrow from the South African policy on the operations of non-oil exports domiciliary account proceeds.
“The CBN should also not make applicants of huge billions of dollars holding on their non-export oil proceeds Dom accounts eligible for fx request at both the NAFEM and NAFEX window.
“In the same vein, we urge the CBN to upgrade its policies and circulars to legislation regarding the impending new reforms of the BDCs.
“This is to give comfort and guarantees to would-be investors in the transformation of the BDC industry’s sub-sector and allow only the existing stakeholders, the grandfather’s right for merger and acquisition, to meet the expected reviewed financial requirements as suggested by ABCON.”
Earlier, the CBN initiated the distribution of an additional $10,000 to each valid BDC operator at a revised rate of N1,101 per dollar. Meanwhile, the Naira has sustained its appreciation against the dollar for over four weeks, with the exchange rate standing at N1,230.61 per dollar as of Monday.