Foreign exchange speculators will lose over N100 billion in the next one month as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sustains massive funding for Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said yesterday.
ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the CBN was committed to improving funding for over 5,000 BDCs nationwide in new move to deepen market liquidity and protect the naira against speculators.
He called for return of normalcy to the market as against the ongoing speculative behaviour, saying that activities of forex speculators are hampering the market operations.
He linked the continued fall of the naira at the parallel market and Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) Forex window to currency speculators hoarding dollars to profit from the currency crisis.
He said the speculators are creating artificial scarcity of the greenback within market to cause more woes for the local currency.
The naira was yesterday exchanging at N485/$1 at the parallel market and N411.25/ $1 at the I&E Forex window.
Gwadabe said the ABCON Management and the CBN-licensed BDCs would fight alongside the regulator to ensure that speculators lose their capital should they persist in the illegal activity.
“The ABCON and CBN have observed with disdain the speculative behaviour currently beclouding the market with the misinformation that the CBN has adopted I&E window as its official rate.
“The above information is not true, because as operators, we still funded our accounts at our normal rates of N393/$ and not the I&E window rates for our operation this Friday,” he said.
The ABCON management therefore advised its members not to join on that behaviour as CBN remained resolute with its partnership with the group and is looking at various options to induce liquidity in the sector.
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He advised BDCs not to join the rumour mongers creating confusion and fragility in the market.
“ABCON will continue to keep you posted and guide you accordingly. We urge all members to continue to give the CBN the utmost support as a strategic partner and in the interest of the economy,” he said.
He said that CBN-licenced BDCs are fighting back by supporting the apex bank in tackling Forex spectators and reiterating commitment to operate within set rules.
Gwadabe said the “Naira for Dollar Policy” being implemented by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele would further lift market liquidity and improve naira status.
The policy, he added, will provide Nigerians in the Diaspora with cheaper and more convenient ways of sending remittances to Nigeria and increase dollar inflows into the economy.
Reiterating the provision of a new circular on remittances, Emefiele said the bank introduced the rebate of N5 for every $1 of fund remitted to Nigeria, through International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) licensed by the Central Bank in order to incentivise the process of remittance.
He emphasised that the new measure would help to make the process of sending remittance through formal bank channels cheaper and more convenient for Nigerians in the diaspora.
Gwadabe said BDCs will continue to defend the naira through compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), supporting CBN’s exchange rate stability policies.
He said every BDC operator needs full knowledge and understanding of how to raise and submit both the Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) to regulators, understand the obligation of registering and filing reports on the NFIU goAML -Anti-Money Laundering portal and proper documentation of all forex sales.
He said all BDCs should file their reports as and when due on weekly basis to Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and CBN and also Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as well as Know Your Customer (KYC) and due diligence reports.
Gwadabe disclosed that BDC operators can be spot-checked by the CBN examiners at anytime and should therefore put in necessary measures to align with the regulatory policies.
