The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will no longer provide foreign exchange (FX) for Bureau de Change (BDCs) operators in the country.
Mr Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, announced this on Tuesday at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Emefiele said the apex bank received about 5,000 applications every month for BDC registration, adding that the operators are making efforts to dollarize 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.
“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 said.
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 organizations, embassies patronize BDC through illegal forex dealer to fund their institutions.
“We will deal ruthlessly with Nigerian banks that deal with illegal BDCs and we will report foreign organizations patronizing them,” he added.
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.
