N925/$: CBN Sends Strong Message to BDC Operators Over Guideline Violations, Naira Crash
- The Central Bank of Nigeria may begin moves to punish Bureau de Change operators
- The move comes as CBN's deadline for the operators ends on August 31, 2023.
- CBN said the operators are responsible for the crash of the naira to over N900 to a dollar at the black market
Recent developments suggest that Bureau De Change operators may be on a war path with the Central Bank of Nigeria over market infringement.
Reports say there is an engagement between the apex bank and BDC operators made up of Bureau de Change of Nigeria (ABCON) members over yet-to-be-fulfilled expectations.
Source: Getty Images
CBN threatens to revoke 5,000 BDC licenses over infractions
CBN had engaged the BDC operators openly and privately and criticized them for what it felt was sabotage and market manipulation.
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The operators have dismissed the allegations as misplaced by the market regulator.
Despite CBN holding over 5,000 registered operators responsible for the naira crash, ABCON has regularly rejected the narrative, asking the CBN to do the hard job of sanitizing the system.
On Tuesday, August 29, 2023, the ABCON president, Aminu Gwadabe, stated that the inability of the CBN to differentiate between the activities of speculators and registered ABSON members is troubling.
The narrative may resurface on Thursday, August 31, 2023, after the deadline by CBN that ABCON should enforce its recently issued guidelines.
The apex bank announced fresh guidelines to the operators to boost the efficiency of the Nigeria Forex market.
CBN alleges BDCs violated its guidelines
The document contains some reporting and trading rules to bring the market sanity.
The circular emphasises that BDC operators' trading margin is pegged at -2.5% to +2.5 % of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market window's previous day's weighted average.
CBN's circular threatened licence revocation over failure to comply with the new directives by BDC operators.
The Guardian reports a 19% disparity between the black and official foreign exchange markets.
According to data from FMDQ, as of August 30, 2023, the naira exchanged for N925 at the black market and N775.34 at the official market.
Analysts believe the move is defeating the foreign exchange reform of President Bola Tinubu's administration.
They say that if the CBN does not wield the big stick soon, the naira will crash to as low as N1,000 per dollar in the parallel market and above N800 in the official market.
Naira crashes to a new low of N910/$ as CBN piles pressure on BDCs, warns speculators and banks
Legit.ng reported that after days of showing some strength at both the official and parallel markets, the naira crashed again from N885 to a dollar to N910 per dollar at the black on Friday, August 25, 2023.
The development comes as buyers flood the parallel market searching for dollars for travel, school, and imports.
Naira falls at official market as buyers flood black market.
Source: Legit.ng
