President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to use Bureaux De Change (BDCs) as a tool to end the multiple rates practices and create stability in the foreign exchange (forex) market.
In a statement, he also called for collaboration between the BDCs and the CBN in the implementation of market-friendly policies that would make the BDCs impact more positively in the market and promote exchange rate stability in the economy.
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The ABCON boss said the hasty generalisation that criminalised the BDC sub-sector as responsible for all market crises and infractions like selling of dollars with higher premium above regulatory limit, promoting loss of confidence and multiplicity of exchange rates was not in the best interest of the market and the economy.
He said, “It is in view of this disturbing situation and the need to strengthen the BDC value chain as obtainable in organised climes that we urge the regulators and policymakers to consider BDCs as the most potent tool in liberalising the foreign exchange market and stopping multiple exchange rates in the system.”
He explained that the BDCs had since 2006 provided policymakers with a window in achieving their mandates of exchange rate stability and price equilibrium.
“In order to address the challenges facing the forex market, now is the time to integrate BDCs into the market activities as agents of stabilisation and delivering the market to the Promised Land,” said Gwadabe.
He also said the BDC operators had for years been preparing for a time like this by integrating technology into their operations and promoting efficiency and transparency in their businesses, noting that they were ready for a CBN forex stability move.
Gwadabe reiterated ABCON’s commitment to boosting liquidity in the forex market, fulfilling its regulatory mandate of bringing forex closer to the end users and supporting the CBN’s goal of achieving sustainable exchange rate stability.
