The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has considered the establishment of an autonomous body called the Bureaux De Change (BDCs) Autonomous Foreign Exchange Trading Window (BAFEX) to ensure stability to the market and make forex available to more parties.
ABCON said the mechanism, which would serve as a pathway to mainstreaming BDCs into the official foreign exchange (FX) management system, would enable its members to source foreign currencies from banks and other autonomous sources and offer a window for regulation of their activities.
ABCON National Executive Council, in a statement, said its inclusion in the retail market would reduce the pressure and stabilise the market. It said it has concluded at a meeting in Lagos to kick-start a strategic campaign to save the local currency, bridge the supply gaps in the markets and curb the volatility.
Its President, Aminu Gwadabe, said there was the urgent need to enhance FX liquidity to stabilise the exchange rate for predictable economic planning.He said its campaigns were aimed at mitigating the volatility that comes with election spends.
The ABCON boss pointed to growing illiquidity and supply shock as key factors why manufacturers and others find it difficult to access FX from the official sources.
He said the leadership of the body would intensify campaigns among traders to help reduce the market arbitrage, which is about N175 per dollar.
