Bureau De Change Operators Shut Down Business In Abuja, Blames Online Banking On Dollar Scarcity

The Abuja chapter of Association of Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators has announced the closure of their business premises indefinitely from Thursday, February 1, 2024.

The chairman of the Association, Abdulahi Dauran, said the scarcity of US Dollars was responsible for their decision while adding that online banking transactions and cryptocurrency were behind the scarcity of dollars.

LEADERSHIP reports that despite the Central Bank of Nigeira (CBN) clearing off the verified backlog of foreign exchange claims owed foreign airlines on Tuesday, the value of the Naira at the official market dipped significantly at the official end of the market with some trades closing at N1,513 per dollar.

The closing rate at the Nigeira Autonomous Foreign Exchange window (NAFEX) closed on Tuesday night at N1,482.57 to the dollar, a bit higher than N1,460 that the greenback sold on the streets.

On Tuesday, the parallel market maintained its exchange rate, holding steady at N1,460/$1, without any depreciation.

Additionally, the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window saw the Naira closing at N1,482.57, reflecting a 9.94% decline or a loss of N133.95 compared to the previous day’s rate of N1,348.62.