Forex speculators to lose N100bn as CBN sustains BDCs’ funding

Foreign exchange (forex)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.

President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this at the weekend in Lagos said the apex bank is 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 the ongoing speculative behaviour is hampering  the market operations and stability will come at huge loss to speculators.

The ABCON boss 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 perpetrators are creating artificial scarcity of the greenback  within market to cause more woes for the local currency.

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.

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, would 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 a new circular on remittances, the 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 apex 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 would 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 filling reports on the NFIU /AML (Anti-Money Laundering) portal and proper documentation of all forex sales.

He said all BDCs should file their  reports when due on weekly basis to NFIUand CBN and EFCC.