The Association of Bureau De Change Operators has criticized the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new recapitalization requirements for its members amid the ongoing foreign exchange crisis.
ABCON President Aminu Gwadabe expressed this sentiment on Thursday at the 8th edition of the Vanguard Economic Summit.
This follows the CBN’s announcement of a new guideline for BDC operators in Nigeria on Wednesday.
The central bank mandated that all BDC operators reapply for licenses, raising the minimum capital requirement for tier-1 and tier-2 licenses to N2 billion and N500 million, respectively.
However, Gwadabe has urged a review of the CBN’s directive to increase the capital base for BDC operators, arguing that it deviates from global standards.
“You increased the capital from N10 million to N35 million in 2014, and now you are raising the capital base of BDCs from N35 million to N500 million for Tier 2 operators and N2 billion. It’s highly against the global standard,” Gwadabe said.
These developments occurred as the Naira depreciated on Thursday in both parallel and official forex markets after four days of appreciation.