Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday suspended foreign exchange transactions with bureau de change operatives.
The bank will also suspend the issuance of new licences to money changers across the country with immediate effect, Governor Godwin Emefiele said .
The announcement comes as the bank intensifies efforts to mitigate further decline of the country’s economy and the national currency.
Bureau de change operators have long been a major black market, providing exchange rate support to those unable to formally access foreign currencies directly from the CBN. The suspension of their ability to source foreign exchange from the CBN could have a significant impact on the country’s economy and bring naira under further pressure.
The Buhari regime has faced criticism for mismanaging the country’s economy after the naira tumbled by widespread margin against the United States dollar and other major international currencies. A dollar was about 180 to naira when the administration assumed power in 2015, but it now exchanges for about 411.50 to naira, and about 510 to naira at parallel markets.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will henceforth stop the licensing of new Bureau De Change (BDC) operators across the country.
This might not be unconnected with the huge number of applications that the apex bank receives monthly and the reported illegal activities of some of the forex dealers.
This disclosure was made by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while reading the communique after the 2-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
Emefiele said that the CBN receives about 574 license applications from BDCs every month adding that there are currently 5,500 licensed BDC operators across the country.
