The recent increase in capital requirements for Bureaux de Change (BDC) from N35 million to N2 billion for Tier-1 BDCs is against international best practices.
This is according to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON).
ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, made the submission at a panel session during an economic discourse organised by Vanguard Newspapers in Lagos.
He also debunked insinuations that BDCs are financiers of terrorism and the illicit flow of money, pointing out that the weakening of the naira is caused by the unearned income pursuing the naira and not due to demand for the dollar.
Gwadabe, while absolving the BDCs, attributed the depreciation of the naira to corruption.
“Even in the UK, the capital requirements for BDCs is £50,000, that is like N100 million. In Uganda, capitalisation of BDCs is $13,000, in India it is $67,000. So, it is good regulators look at standards,” he added.
The ABCON president called on the CBN review the N2 billion capital requirement for BDCs to fit international standards, noting that ABCON members are open to collaboration with the apex banks on some of these policies.
He also stated that some of the policies of the government aimed at tackling naira depreciation were not feasible, as according to him, the exchange rate affects everything including migration and educational tourism.
