Hope rises for naira as international dealer floods Nigeria with dollars

News Express |7th Oct 2016 | 3,358

Fresh hope have risen with the news, yesterday, that global foreign exchange (forex) dealer, Travelex, will today disburse a total of $45 million dollars to licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the country.

The disclosure was made by the President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe. He said that Travelex will disburse $15,000 to each of the 3,000 registered BDC operators, adding that with each of the 3,000 BDCs getting $15,000 each, $45 million will flow into the system today. Gwadabe commended the CBN for authorising Travelex to take responsibility of disbursing huge dollar inflows from the Diaspora estimated at $21 billion annually to BDCs.

He said the development, would deepen dollar liquidity in the system and strengthen the naira against the dollar.

The local currency had been on a free fall on the parallel market in recent weeks, losing about 15 per cent of its value to drop to a record low of N490/dollar at some point. Gwadabe said the experience and integrity of Travelex would be key in getting the dollars to BDCs.

•Adapted from a New Telegraph report. Photo shows ABCON President Aminu Gwadabe.