Alert: CBN increases forex allocation to BDCs to $50k/week

Reports reaching Nigeria reveals that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the limit that banks can sell to Bureaus De Change (BDCs) from $30,000 to $50,000.
The CBN a fortnight ago reintroduced sale of forex to the BDCs via funds from foreign remittances after banishing them from the interbank market in January.
While addressing journalists at the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Abuja Tuesday, the Managing Director of UBA Mr. Kennedy Uzoka explained that the decision to increase the amount that banks can sell to BDCs “was taken to drive down the price and ensure that people get enough to pay school fees as schools are about to open and grieving that people who will be traveling at this period will require Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) and PTA.”
According to an article in The Nation, Members of the bankers’ committee urged BDCs to approach banks and apply for foreign exchange. The recent decision to readmit BDCs is expected to reduce the rate disparity between the interbank market and the parallel market. However, this has not had the desired effect as demand continues to far outweigh supply.
The CBN has been running from pillar to post to salvage a foreign exchange crisis that was created by a cocktail of bad monetary policies taken since the Buhari administration came into power.
Analysts see this as a positive move but are skeptical that it will improve the forex situation. They also opine that the CBN’s recent directive against International Money Transfer Operators to stop operations in the country without license is also likely to affect supply of forex in the interbank market.
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