Unorthodox foreign exchange policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria has adversely impacted on the naira stability across all markets, and created huge premium between official and parallel market rates.
This is according to the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria(ABCON) Aminu Gwadabe.
According to a statement, Gwadabe explained that with the official market rate now at N430/$ and parallel market rate now at N730/$, a huge rate gape of N300/$ now existed in the markets.
He said the selling of forex earnings at a fixed rate of N430/$ while open market rate was N730/$ was unorthodox practice that lacked credibility and transparency.
“That singular act encourages rent seeking, currency substitution that continues to hurt real sector operators and the overall economy,” he said.
He recalled that when the apex bank decided to suspend sales of forex to Bureau De Change in July 2021, the open market rate was about N501/$.
Over a year after, he said, the naira to the dollar had depreciated significantly, with a lot of Nigerians not meeting their invisible transactions needs and the regulator not showing much commitment to meeting those needs.
Gwadabe, said the small retail exchange institutions, the BDCs, remained at the centre of CBN’s exchange rate policies implementation, hence the need for the regulator and public to continuously support BDCs’ roles in exchange rate stability.
