The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will stick to its decision to stop the sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.
The CBN’s Director of Monetary Policy, Mr Moses Tule told Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, that the BDC operators have abandoned their primary functions, hence the bank’s resolve to stop servicing them.
“We have Bureau De Change that are making huge volume transactions in foreign exchange, contrary to the terms of their licence,” he said.
“The Association of Bureau De Change Operators, which is supposed to serve as a self-regulating association, has taken on an entire life of its own and they act as a trade union, making demand that the Central Bank reverses its policy,” he said.
However, the acting President of the BDC operators, Aminu Gwadabe, expressed displeasure with Mr Tule’s claims.
According to him, the operators are professionals who were being unfairly treated by the CBN.
“The Central Bank licensed Bureau De Change operators only contribute five per cent in the market (that is their market share). The other 95 per cent is being shared among the banks, the Central Bank and the street hawkers (these are the players in the market),” he said.
“Our concern is not to fight the CBN policy, our concern is not to constitute ourselves as a trade union, (but) we are a professional organisation,” he said.
