The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, had criticized the administration of President Bola Tinubu, over the crackdown on the Bureau de Change operators in the country.
Obi in a post on his X handle, described the move by Tinubu’s administration as ill-advised and misdirected, warning that such a move would escalate and worsen the already bloated country’s exchange rate.
The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, raided some Bureau De Change outlets recently, especially in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan and Kano.
The operatives also arrested several other operators during the raid, as a result of the continuous depreciation of Nigeria’s naira against the US dollar.
However, Obi in a post on X, emphasized that BDCs are neither the primary suppliers of foreign exchange nor do they create demand.
According to the former Anambra state governor, the key to strengthening the currency lies in transitioning Nigeria from a consumption-focused economy to a production-oriented one, especially in export-led production.
Obi also underscored the need to fight corruption, saying it allows unproductive money to compete for the available supply of foreign currency.
Obi said; ”The recent reported attacks and disruption of the business activities of Bureaux de Change (BDCs) operators in different urban centres across the country by Government Agencies, are ill-advised and wrongly directed.
”Rather than solve the problem, the action will further escalate and worsen the exchange rate situation in the country. The BDCs are not the primary suppliers of forex nor do they create demand. They only provide a market to sellers and buyers of foreign currency.
”They are part and parcel of every economy and can be found even in the developed economies of the world. To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira is a smack on rational economic thinking.
”The only way to shore up the value of our currency is to move the country from consumption to production, especially export-led production, and fight corruption, which allows unproductive money to pursue the available supply of foreign currency.
”As long as Nigeria remains an unproductive economy and corruption continues unfettered with people in possession of unproductive excess cash, the value of our currency will continue to depreciate.
”It’s important, therefore, that government authorities properly understand the workings of a modern economy and channel their efforts accordingly.”
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria said on Friday, that sellers of Foreign Exchange of $10,000 and above to Bureau De Change operators, must declare the source of the forex.
The apex bank stated this in a revised regulatory framework to curtail the excesses of BDCs and check uncertainty in the forex market.
It also mandated the sellers to comply with all the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism ( AML/CFT) regulations and foreign exchange laws and regulations.
The CBN also said customers can move foreign currencies from their domiciliary accounts with Nigerian banks to BDCs.
It said: “All digital/transfer purchases of foreign currencies shall be credited to the BDC’s Nigerian domiciliary account.
“Payments for all digital/transfer purchases of foreign currency by a BDC shall be by transfer to the customer’s Naira account. If the customer is a non-resident (whether Nigerian or not), a BDC may issue the customer a prepaid NGN card.”
It further explained that BDCs can source foreign currencies from tourists, returnees from the diaspora, and expatriates with foreign exchange inflows from work, travel, investment or their domiciliary accounts.
Other sources mentioned by the CBN, are residents with foreign exchange inflows from work, travel, investment or their domiciliary accounts, and International Money Transfer Operators.
The apex bank further listed embassies, hotels that are authorised buyers of foreign currencies, the Nigerian foreign exchange market, as well as any other source that the CBN may specify.
