The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has stopped sale
of foreign exchange (FX) to Bureau De Change (BDCs) operators in the country.
Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, announced this
at the end of the monetary policy committee meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
Emefiele said the apex bank received about 5,000
applications every month for BDC registration, adding that the operators are
making efforts to dollarise the Nigerian economy.
The CBN governor said BDC operators have become a conduit
for illegal financial flows working with corrupt people to conduct money
laundering in Nigeria.
“They have turned
themselves away from their objectives,” he said.
“They are now agents that facilitate graft and corruption in
the country.
“We cannot continue with the bad practices that are
happening at the BDC market.”
Emefiele added that there is evidence of prevailing
ownership of several BDCs by the same promoters to procure multiple FX from the
central bank.
“Several international organisations, embassies patronise
BDC through illegal forex dealer to fund their institutions,” he added.
“We will deal ruthlessly with Nigerian banks that deal with
illegal BDCs and we will report foreign organisations patronising them.”
He said the CBN will henceforth channel weekly allocations
of dollar sales to commercial banks to meet legitimate FX demands.
He also mandated banks to sell forex to every customer.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com