The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it will no longer sell forex to the Bureau De Change operators.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this after the Monetary Policy Committee two-day meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, said the decision will take immediate effect.
Emefiele said, the MPC noted with disappointment and great concerns that the BDCs had defeated their purpose of existence to provide forex to the retail users, but instead, they had become wholesale and illegal dealers.
The BDCs, he observed had continued to make huge profits while Nigerians suffered in pain.
He said the commercial banks would be monitored to provide forex for the legitimate use of Nigerians.
“The Central Bank will henceforth discontinue the sale of forex to Bureau de Change operators,” Emefiele said.
The MPC also retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 percent at the end of the meeting.
It also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio and Liquidity Ratio at 27.5 percent and 30 percent respectively.
Announcing the committee’s decision, Emefiele said, “The MPC made the decision to hold all parameters constant. The committee thought by unanimous vote to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 percent.
“In summary, MPC voted as follows, one, retain MPR at 11.5 percent; retain the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; retain the CRR at 27.5 percent, and retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent.”
