The Central Bank of Nigeria has granted temporary access to the foreign exchange market to Bureau De Change operators in the country from December 19 to January 30, 2025.
Employees can purchase up to $25,000 per week from authorized dealers. All transactions will be repaid with interest and subject to a maximum of 1 per cent, the central bank said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria usually sells foreign exchange directly to BDCs under its foreign exchange program. The company’s statement did not explain the reasons behind the move, which will allow BDCs to use a new automatic transfer machine this month to replace the retail market that it had a decade ago.
The CBN reiterated its commitment to ensure that all legal foreign exchange transactions are conducted at market-determined exchange rates within the NFEM. It also assured Nigerians that Personal Travel Authorization (PTA) and Business Travel Authorization (BTA) are still available to companies to facilitate the identification of requirements.
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The Chairman of the Association of Stock Exchange Bureaus of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, expressed his views in an interview with BusinessDay. Gwadabe said the appreciation of the naira was due to the central bank’s intervention in the external market.
“We have seen a major flaw as the CBN’s intervention is limited to the sales window, which is the extent of the lack of intervention in the retail market which is now a transportation cost for all businesses,” he added.
