The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced plans to sell $20,000 in foreign exchange to eligible Bureau De Change operators nationwide.
The apex bank disclosed this in a statement titled “Sales of foreign exchange to BDCs to meet retail market demand for eligible invisible transactions“, signed by its acting director of trade and exchange department, Dr W. J Kanya.
According to a new circular released on Wednesday, September 25, the apex bank said the qualified BDC operators would get the chance to buy at the rate of N1,590/$.
The rate is N77.42 cheaper than the official exchange rate, which closed at N1667.42 on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Also, a BDC trader told TimesNow.com.ng that on Thursday, September 26, the naira in the parallel market sold at N1,697 against the dollar.
Using the black market rate, CBN is selling one dollar to BDCs N107 cheaper.
In the circular, the CBN said the sale of the dollar will help operators meet retail market demand for eligible invisible transactions.
However, the apex bank gave firm instructions that the beneficiary BDCs must not sell the allocated dollars to eligible customers at a rate not exceeding N15.59 profit on each dollar they sell to their customers.
The circular reads:
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that a recent quarterly statistical bulletin from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) highlighted that foreign exchange (FX) consumers consumed more dollars in the three months ending in December 2023 than in the previous quarter.
It said the inflows would likely come from World Bank budget finance, NNPC-related flows, and Eurobond issuance.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
