The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has suspended the sale of foreign exchange (Forex) to Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the country with immediate effect.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made this disclosure on Tuesday while briefing the media on the decisions taken at the end of the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee two-day meeting in Abuja.
This is even as he confirmed that the committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 percent; the Cash Reserve Ratio and Liquidity Ratio at 27.5 per cent and 30 percent respectively.
Justifying the committee’s decision, Emefiele said: “The MPC made the decision to hold all parameters constant. The committee thought by unanimous vote to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 per cent.
“In summary, MPC voted as follows, one, retain MPR at 11.5 per cent; retain the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; retain the CRR at 27.5 per cent; and retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent”, the governor added.
Speaking further on the MPC’s decision to stop forex sales to the BDCs, Emefiele explained that the MPC noted with disappointment and great concerns that the BDCs had defeated their purpose of existence to provide forex to retail users, but rather had become wholesale and illegal dealers.
Emefiele lamented that the BDCs had continued to make huge profits while Nigerians were suffering helplessly in their bids to source forex for legitimate businesses.
He clarified: “The Central Bank will henceforth discontinue the sale of forex to Bureau de Change operators.”
As a way of ensuring forex supply to genuine business owners in the country, the governor said that the CBN would continue to monitor the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to ensure that they provide forex for the needy sectors/investors.
