BDC operators bemoan scarcity of forex as Naira drops by 1.22%

The naira dropped by another 1.22 per cent against the dollar on the unofficial market on Thursday with the naira now going for N246 to a dollar as against the N243 recorded earlier.

This latest drop might not be unconnected with fact that over 1,700 Bureau de Change (BDC) operators are finding it difficult to get dollar supply from the Central Bank for Nigeria due to non-compliance with the Biometric Verification Nigeria exercise.

National Daily gathered that about 1,700 BDC agents out of 2,818 operators were denied access to participate in the forex sale on Wednesday, limiting dollar supply.

According to the President of Nigeria’s Bureau de Change Association, Aminu Gwadabe, the central bank has reduced the amount of dollar sold to bureau de change at its twice-weekly intervention, which has also been cut to once a week now.

Another  bureau de change Operator at Opebi, Ikeja, Patrick, told National Daily that the reduction in volume of dollar sales by the CBN coupled with year-end surge in demand for foreign currencies by importers have impacted negatively on the naira.

The policy implementation, which started on November 1, has reduced the volume of dollars sold by BDCs and created dollar scarcity in the market. However, the CBN has been able to keep a grip on the local currency movement in the interbank market.

The naira fall was intensified after the CBN mandated BDC operators to get Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) of customers buying foreign exchange.

The adoption of BVN as a condition for the purchase of forex, according to the CBN, is expected is expected to reduce the incidence of multiple purchases, round tripping and illicit transfer of funds, facilitate enforcement of authorised limits of forex sales to end users, sanitise the retail segment of the market and engender policies that will facilitate better allocation of forex, based on genuine demands.