The Central Bank of Nigeria has labelled a circular authorising foreign exchange sales to Bureau De Change operators in the country as fraudulent.
The circular, issued Tuesday, 10 December, stated that the apex bank sold $20,000 to each eligible BDC operator at a rate of N1,300 per dollar.
“Following the ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, aimed at achieving an appropriate market-determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued price distortions at the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium,” the bogus circular says.
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On Wednesday, CBN labelled the circular as a forgery on its official X account.
This comes as the Naira has firmed up against the dollar in the FX market over the last seven days following the CBN’s introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) for transparent FX transactions.
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Ejes Gist News reports that the Naira had fallen to N1660 per dollar on the black market in the previous two days, it recovered against the dollar on Tuesday on the official market, closing at N1,525.
According to reports, the CBN last participated in the underground market in September 2024, when it sold FX to BDC operators for N1590 per dollar.
