Commercial banks are defying Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) directive for them to sell $50,000 weekly from Diaspora remittances to bureau de change (BDCs), President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) Aminu Gwadabe said.
In a statement, the ABCON boss said only 10 per cent of BDCs from the Lagos market have so far accessed dollar from banks since the CBN gave the directive nearly three weeks ago.


The banks that are so far involved in the dollar sales include FirstBank, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa and Unity Bank. Others are Diamond Bank, Zenith Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Gwadabe regretted that BDCs in Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja, Onitsha, Maiduguri, Benin and Enugu are yet to get a single dollar from these banks.
He said that the BDCs are also selling between N345 and N355 to dollar, far above the interbank rate of N305 to dollar exchange.


The banks, he added, are supposed to sell to the BDCs on the same day within the week, but have failed to do so. “Instead of staggering the payment, the banks should sell to the BDCs on the same week day, so that the impact will be felt in the market. We also want the CBN to licence more International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to deepen the market,” he said.
“Our members across the country have funded their accounts since two weeks ago but the banks are not selling to them. The BDCs that met the CBN’s policy guidelines on the disbursement and cleared by the banks have still not received a dime from the banks,” he added.
Gwadabe also called on the CBN to outsource the dollar distribution role to independent distributor since the banks have failed in their assigned role.


“I think the banks are compromising the policy and CBN’s directive on the matter. And like I said earlier, since the banks are not co-operating, I expect the CBN to take that role from them and assign it to a reputable independent distributor,” he advised.
The CBN had directed through a circular to authorised dealers that all agents to approved IMTOs sell foreign currency accruing from inward money remittances to licensed BDCs.


It said the foreign currency proceeds of IMTOs sold to BDC operators shall be retailed to end users in accordance to CBN regulation.
Also, only BDCs that have been cleared by the compliance department of the banks as fully compliant with the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement were allowed to buy. The CBN issued a follow-up circular to all the banks, asking them to sell $50,000 weekly to BDCs.
The directive was meant to ensure stability of the exchange rate and encourage participation of critical stakeholders in the foreign exchange market.


The CBN said a BDC shall nominate its preferred authorised dealer, a commercial bank, and can only procure the said amount from only that bank of its choice in a week. The CBN warned that any breach of this condition will attract appropriate sanction.


Speaking further on the Diaspora remittances, Gwadabe said: “The proceed of the international money transfer fund, is not CBN money. It is not from the foreign reserves of the CBN. This is money that Nigerians in Diaspora, are sending into the economy. Before, this money come through unofficial means, some sending through hands, and at the end of the day, the beneficiary will not even get the money”.

Lawless country where everyone is above the law and official direction.

A case study of many violation of court orders by the same administration.

989900:
The banks are as corrupt as scoliosis.
So, what's up CBN?

The tone at the top stinks, couple with unclear policy direction.

Too many things are wrong with this administration.

Firefire:


The tone at the top stinks, couple with unclear policy direction.

Too many things are wrong with this administration.

I am sorry; what part of your body processed and churned out this hogwash? Please, for the sake of posterity and life-here-after, let's make sense and say things the way they are.

fyneguy:


I am sorry; what part of your body processed and churned out this hogwash? Please, for the sake of posterity and life-here-after, let's make sense and say things the way they are.

Why not make your contribution and move on?

corruption has become a culture in naija

Well, the first question ought to be - do the banks have the dollars to sell to the BDCs?
This policy is based on the assumption that once the CBN shut down the mushroom money transfer companies then diaspora Nigerians will have no choice but to give their hard earned FX to Western Union and MoneyGram who will now hand over to the banks who will in turn exchange the FX for whatever CBN manipulated inter-bank rate is for the day. Of course, like most all policies dictated by the CBN to deal with this FX crisis, it is a bone-headed idea based on nothing but an overbearing arrogance that they can wily-nilly confiscate private property without explanation and without justification.
Well, it is never going to work. Provided there is a wide gap between the inter bank rate and the black market rate, Nigerians in diaspora are never going back to handing their hard earned money to the banks through WU and MoneyGram. The CBN simply lacks the ability to shut down all the transfer loopholes, and they forget to factor in that the vast majority of the demand for FX in Nigeria is for use in the US and other countries. So what stops someone that has dollars and wants Naira from looking for someone with naira but needs dollars so they could do a simple swap at or close to the black market rate which simply eliminates the WU and the Nigerian banks? Nothing! And actually this is what people are doing for the most part now, and I don't see how the CBN is going to stop that too.