CBN Announces New FX Policy, To Sell $20,000 To SMEs Quarterly; BDCs List Conditions To End Round Tripping

The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced that it will begin to offer small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) up to $20,000 per quarter in forex, in an effort to stimulate growth of businesses whose access to foreign currencies has been overshadowed by larger companies. The CBN made this announcement in a statement released on Monday, Reuters relates.

This is in addition to the CBN’s new plan to sell shorter-dated dollar forwards to inject liquidity into the official market and try to support the naira, traders revealed on Monday.

Also on Monday, the CBN auctioned $100 million, it said, with traders saying the sales will be settled within one week and 30 days, compared with the 60-day contracts it had written previously.

The central bank also sold $41 million for travel allowances and medical and tuition fees, it said in Monday’s statement.

Nigeria is battling a currency crisis brought on by low oil prices, which has tipped its economy into recession, hammered its dollar reserves and created chronic dollar shortages, which saw parallel market rates drop to as low as N520/$1. However, the revised forex policy of the CBN seems to be making some headway as parallel market rates have dropped to about N405/$1 within a month and a half.

Meanwhile, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has explained steps it has undertaken to ensure that its members conform to lawful practices and avoid crimes such as round tripping. Speaking on behalf of the association, the Acting President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, as Guardian states, outlined about 3 measures the association had put in place.

1. An investigative panel has already been setup to look into present allegations of wrongdoing by its members nationwide. This investigation would result in exposure and prosecution of erring members.
2. The association has reiterated its zero tolerance for non-compliance with regulatory requirement and unethical conduct amongst its members, assured the CBN and other stakeholders that the BDC industry was duty-bound to operate within the ambit of the law and would continue to promote national interest and economic development.
3. The association has created the office of Compliance Officer at its National Secretariat and in all its zonal offices and also provided vehicles for the compliance officers to regularly visit BDCs under their jurisdictions as a form of monitoring. These unscheduled visits are meant to ensure that members continue to be law abiding, as well as expose any who are not.

However, Gwadabe has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must take 2 additional steps if round tripping is to be overcome. First, the CBN needs to increase their allowable profit margin from N2 to N10. Secondly, Leadership reports that BDCs demanded an increase the volume of dollar allocations to $50,000 per week.

“We have told the regulators that it is small, in other climes there are margins that are up to 10 per cent. The margin of N2 we feel is still small so let the CBN review that margin to at least N10 per dollar.” Gwadabe said. Accusations have been made of BDCs round tripping in order to make more profit on their forex allocations, as they benefit from the multiple exchange rates in place in the country.