The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give regulatory approvals to allow BDCs have access to diaspora remittances, like receiving International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) proceeds in other to boost FX liquidity in the country.
This was made known in a statement issued by the President of ABCON, Aminu Gwadebe, where he noted that full participation of BDCs in the retail segment of the foreign exchange market will help achieve a stable, strong, and virile exchange rate.
He said, “We at ABCON advise that BDCs should be allowed to access dollars or diaspora remittances through the autonomous forex windows like allowing operators to receive IMTOs proceeds, carrying out online dollar operations and Point of Sale (PoS) Agency, among others.’’
Gwadabe said the Diaspora remittances remain a low hanging fruit for the apex bank and tapping the full potentials would require creating multiple channels of inflows to make it easier for Nigerians in diaspora to send funds home.
He said the challenges confronting the nation’s forex market and depreciation of the naira require all hands to be on deck, and the BDCs, which are licensed to play at the retail end of the forex market, should be fully involved in providing lasting solutions to the ongoing volatility in the exchange rate.
Gwadabe said the continuous depreciation of the naira in both official and parallel markets does not benefit the BDCs and the domestic economy, hence steps should be taken to reverse the trend and strengthen the local currency for maximum impact on the economy.
The Nigerian currency, the naira continued its free fall on Friday as it weakened in the parallel market closing at N1,175 per dollar.
Also at the parallel market, the British pound sterling exchanged for N1,330 up from N1,300. The Euro also went up to N1,140
Operators at the Black market cited low inflows and lack of access to the US currency as reasons for the rise.
However, at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the naira strengthened to N782.68 per dollar
Gwadabe said that like every other segment of
BDCs urge CBN to allow members access to diaspora remittances
