CBN’s Acting Director in Charge of Trade and Exchange Departments, Aliyu Mahdi, said in a statement that the sum of $20,000 is to be sold to each BDC at the rate of N1,450/$ (representing the lower band of the trading rate at NAFEM in the previous trading day).
Mahdi noted that the apex bank has observed the continued distortions in the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium.
“Following the ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, to achieve an appropriate market determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued distortions in the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the Parallel market and further widen the exchange rate premium.
“To this end, the CBN has approved the sales of FX to eligible Bureau De Change (BDCs) to meet the demand for invisible transactions”, the statement said.
According to the CBN, all BDC operators are allowed to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1.5 per cent above the purchase rate from CBN.
The apex regulator directed all eligible BDCs to make naira payments to CBN’s naira deposit account numbers and submit confirmation of payment with other necessary documentation for disbursement at its branches in Abuja, Akwa, Kano and Lagos.