ABCON sets exchange rate agenda of N250/$ for Buhari

Bureau De Change Operators have set agenda for President Muhammadu Buhari in his second term in the office, insisting that lower exchange rate of N250 to a dollar will impact positively on the growth of the economy.

The President Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji (Dr) Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this to financial journalists in Lagos, said achieving a lower exchange rate for the economy will benefit the common man and impact on businesses. 

Currently, the naira exchanges at N362 to dollar at the parallel market and N358 to dollar at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) while the local currency exchanges at N306 to dollar at the official rate. 

Gwadabe also said that such lower exchange rate will improve the transaction volume for BDCs by enabling operators to buy and sell more dollars from their available cashflow. 

He said a lower exchange rate against the dollar will stabilize the local currency, raise investors’ confidence, improve Diaspora remittance flow and entrench fiscal discipline.

According to him “a stronger Naira will raise Internally Generated Revenue, help in the implementation of the restriction of foreign exchange access to  42 items that can produced locally and improve BDCs capabilities to thrive.”

Expressing the need for the federal government to constitute new economic management team and review government’s performance in the last four years, he said  such review will give room for better performance  in the second term of this administration which will take off  in May 29, 2019.

Gwadabe said the economy is not performing to expectations, and government is expected to re-strategise and review its performance in the last four years and develop concrete actionable strategy for better performance. 

Gwadabe said that if government waits till May 29 before setting up a think-tank economic team with functional experience on the economy, security, agriculture and human resource development, it would have wasted tangible time needed for smooth take-off.

He said the committee members should have deep knowledge of the economy, and be ready to access information on how these sectors have worked effectively in other countries in order to deploy similar strategy in the interest of the local economy.

Gwadabe said that by now, government should know where the complaints over its performance in the last four years came from and give priority to tackling unemployment, fixing road infrastructure, creating better investment opportunities for the people and companies as well as strengthening the financial sector, of which BDCs are key players.

Gwadabe also advised the federal government to be more cautious at borrowing, ensuring that borrowed funds are channeled to projects that will be able to repay the loans.

He said government should equally look at the tax system, and block all revenue leakages to generate more funding for the economy.

He said the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Forex Window introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is having positive impact on the Forex market and should be sustained because of the stability it has brought to the market.

He said government should pay more attention to promoting ease of doing business, lifting private and public enterprises and creating jobs for the people.

According to him, there is need for fiscal restructuring by ensuring that states become more efficient in revenue generation and less dependent on federal allocations.

He said the BDCs have over the years, remained a potent monetary policy tool for exchange rate stability. The sector, he added, has helped the government in creating over 30,000 jobs for Nigerians, thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country. 

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