Naira Sustains Gain on Parallel Market, Closes at N468/$

Obinna Chima
The naira continued its appreciation on the parallel market yesterday as it climbed to N468 to the dollar from N470 to the dollar the previous day, following the implementation of an arrangement that saw the intervention of Travelex in the Bureau De Change (BDC)  segment of the market.

Also, the naira was calm on the interbank FX market as the spot rate of the naira closed at N304.75 to the dollar.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Travelex last Friday started implementing a new arrangement whereby the global FX dealer now sell the greenback to BDCs. The policy has seen an increase in level of liquidity in the market.

President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this yesterday, said with each of the 3,000 BDCs now get $15,000 each, with total of $45 million will flow into the system weekly. He lauded 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, which was an improvement from the initially approved $10,000 weekly, would deepen dollar liquidity in the system and strengthen the naira against the dollar.

Gwadabe, said the experience and integrity of Travelex would be key in getting the dollars down to BDCs.
He urged all ABCON members and BDC operators, as a matter of urgency, to visit the apex bank’s branches in their respective zones to update or validate their en-cashers and signatories mandate card for Travelex biometric data capturing.

Gwadabe said the Travelex biometric data capturing would enable the BDCs access the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs)/Travelex dollars window.

He said remittances have direct positive and significant impact on consumption, investment, and demand in the country as it could be used to address short-run output shocks, and even long run growth. He said remittances tended to be stable and could increase during periods of economic downturns and natural disasters.

President of ABCON commended the CBN for reaffirming the country’s commitment to building an enabling environment and level-playing field for international money transfer services to Nigeria.
He said by increasing the number of IMTOs from three to 14, the CBN under the leadership of its Governor, Godwin Emefiele, would set the economy on the path of development in the medium- to long-term and also, restore integrity in the international money transfer business.