CBN Clamps Down on BDC Operators With Forex Ban

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it has stopped the sales of forex to Bureau De Change operators, saying the parallel market has become a conduit for illicit forex flows and graft.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele announced this on Tuesday at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.

He said the bank, being the only apex bank selling dollars directly to the BDCs in the world, regretted its action based on a recent discovery that the BDC had betrayed the confidence bestowed on them.

The bank said it will also no longer process applications for BDC licences in the country and that weekly sales of foreign exchange by the CBN will henceforth go directly to commercial banks.

He said international bodies, including some embassies and donor agencies, have been complicit in illegal forex transactions that have hindered the flow of foreign exchange into the country.

He said the organisations have chosen to channel forex through the black market than use the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, called Nafex.