The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved a new foreign exchange sale rate of N1,590 per dollar for Bureau De Change operators, impacting the FX market significantly.

Another round of foreign exchange (FX) sales to qualified Bureau De Change (BDC) operators has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at a rate of N1,590 per dollar.

The goal of this activity is to satisfy the increasing need for transactions that are unseen, such university fees, medical costs, and personal travel allowances.

The CBN announced its intention to sell $20,000 to each qualifying BDC operator at the set rate of N1,590 per dollar in a circular published yesterday with the heading “Sales of Foreign Exchange to BDCs to Meet Retail Market Demand for Eligible Invisible Transactions.”

W.J. Kanya, the acting director of the Trade and Exchange Department, signed the circular.

This move is a component of the CBN’s continuous efforts to maintain exchange rate stability and supply liquidity to the foreign exchange market’s retail sector.

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The CBN hopes to relieve pressure on the parallel market and provide relief to those in need of foreign currency for non-commercial and personal activities by providing FX directly to BDCs.

It is anticipated that the authorized FX sale will contribute to closing the market’s demand-supply gap and guaranteeing that people and companies can obtain foreign exchange at a more controlled rate.

“The purpose of this announcement is to notify the public and Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators that the CBN will be adding more liquidity to this particular segment of the foreign exchange market,” the top bank said.

“In order to achieve this, CBN has authorized the sale of US$20,000.00 at a rate of N1,590/5 to each qualified BDC. This satisfies the need for transactions that are invisible.

“Selling to qualified end users at a margin of NO MORE THAN 1% above the CBN purchase rate is permitted for all BDCs.”

“It is instructed that eligible BDCs who are interested in this transaction send the Naira payment to the CBN Deposit Account Numbers associated with them.”