19th August, 2023
The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered Bureau de change(BDCs) outlets to provide mandatory daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports on their transactions.
In a new guideline issued by the bank late on Thursday, the CBN said failure of the BDCs to render the report “would attract sanctions which may include withdrawal of operating license”.
The circular signed by Dr. O.S. Nnaji, director trade and exchange department also capped foreign currency transactions carried out by the BDCs, in a bid to narrow the gap between the official and parallel market rates.
“The spread on buying and selling by BDC operators shall be within an allowable limit of -2.5% to 2.5% of Nigerian foreign exchange market window weighted average rate of the previous day,” the central bank said.
President Bola Tinubu, who has embarked on the boldest economic reforms in the country, is seeking for ways to stem the fall of the naira which has hit record lows on the black market.
Acting central bank governor Folashodun Shonubi flagged new measures for the currency market on Aug 14, as pressure mounted on the naira.
Days later, the state oil firm NNPC Ltd. announced it secured a $3 billion loan, helping the naira gain sharply on the black market to 860 to the U.S. dollar, compared with a record low of 960 earlier in the week.
The naira has swung widely on the official market since June after the central bank lifted trading restrictions, weakening the currency by more than 40%.