CBN Halts Forex Sales to Bureau De Change Operators

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday announced it has halted the sales of forex to Bureau De Change Operators (BDCs) across the country.

Godwin Emefiele, Governor, CBN, disclosed this after the monetary policy committee’s meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to the CBN governor, bureau de Change Operators have become a conduit for illegal financial flows, saying they work with corrupt individuals to perpetrate crime, illicit flows and money laundering in the country.

The BDCs, in the past, have been linked to various financial crimes and at a point blamed partly for the chronic dollar scarcity being experienced across the country.

A large number of Bureau de Change Operators prefer to sell their weekly forex allocations from the CBN directly to speculators and hoarders at the parallel market, popularly known as the black market, for higher gains, hence they are responsible for several of the unregulated forex activities going on across the nation.

However, the CBN decision will impact Naira outlook and further plunge the embattled currency against global counterparts.