By Francis Akinnodi

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The Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON) has described small interest margin as the major challenge of foreign exchange traders, following the resumption of sales of forex by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.
The CBN is set to sell dollars to the BDCs at a fixed rate of N384 to the dollar and they are expected to sell to the customers at N386 to the dollar.
President of ABCON, Aminu Gwadabe revealed the challenge to The Hope, saying that the profit margin of just N2 was too small and would not be enough to cover their expenses.
According to him, “The challenge that we are facing is the smaller margin. Right now, the parallel market is doing about N430 and our pegged rate is N386 to the dollar.
“So, we still see a gap between the advised exchange rate of N386 by the CBN and what is obtainable presently in the market.”
He pleaded with the CBN to look into their challenge and review the directive.
Gwadebe also urged the apex bank to allow for the use of virtual documentation, which he said would help in containing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He admitted that the challenge of COVID-19 is still on and appeal that a clause be put on the use of virtual identification of documents.
“This would mean that the BDC operators would not need to see their customers’ physical passports”, he said.