The DSS has clamped down on Forex dealers around the country as the fight against corruption drags on.
File photo
Some unregistered Bureau De Change operators in Lagos and Abuja have been arrested.
They were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Security on Thursday.
According to the News Aency of Nigeria, also raided by the DSS
operatives were registered BDCs operators who were accused of selling
the dollar above N400.
The development, forex dealers said, forced some of the BDC
operators to seek means of selling foreign currencies in their
possession, especially dollars, pounds and euros at stipulated rates.
A licensed BDC operator in Abuja, Alhaji Yusuf Rabiu, told the News
Agency of Nigeria that the raid on the registered operators made some
of them to reach an agreement on how much the various foreign currencies
should be sold for.
On Wednesday, the DSS had raided the offices of some BDC in Lagos
and Abuja, arresting operators selling above the stipulated exchange
rate.
The DSS operatives posed as end-users who came to purchase dollars
from the BDCs. After surveying the market for exchange rate offerings,
they arrested some BDC operators who sold above the Central Bank of
Nigeria’s stipulated rates.
Rabiu said, “On Monday, the EFCC called so many licensed BDC
operators. The issue is that they feel we are unnecessarily hiking the
rates. But it’s not our fault.
“Right now, their focus is on our business; they have been
calling us one by one and we don’t want problems. That is why we have
agreed to have a fixed rate for now. After the raid in Lagos, the Abuja
operators met and agreed on a fixed rate.”
Another trader told Reuters that security agents visiting the BDC operators told dealers not to sell dollars for more than N395.
“We’ve stopped buying dollars from just anybody that walks into
our shops due to the harassment from security agents and a directive
from our association,” said a dealer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Alhaji
Aminu Gwadabe, said the association had this week inaugurated committees
to ensure that members complied with its regulations on exchange rates.
He said ABCON was working with the CBN to ensure that speculators, illegal operators and errant members were dealt with.
Gwadabe added that licensed dealers had agreed with the central
bank and the security agencies to enforce a rate of N390 to N400 to the
dollar.
“The issue of naira depreciation has been narrowed to the
activities of speculators and we have decided, with the cooperation of
both the central bank and the security agents, to enforce a new rule on
pricing,” he said.
But economic and financial experts said the approach of arresting the operators would not work.
A currency analyst at Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ezun said, “We
cannot control the naira value or exchange rate by fiat. It is beyond
that. Until there is enough liquidity in the foreign exchange market, we
cannot do that. The DSS raiding the BDCs will only add to the problem.
That is not how to stabilise or bring down the exchange rate.
“Exchange rate control cannot come by fiat. When the CBN began
the flexible exchange rate policy in June, a lot of things were done. We
need to look into this clearly. The issue at the market now is lack of
liquidity and this cannot be addressed in the short-term. We should
allow a full-fledged interbank rate; transparency and price discovery
are key elements of the market.”
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