BDC clampdown won’t solve forex shortage, Obi insists
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) has counselled President Bola Tinubu the swoop by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Bureau de Change (BDC) operators will worsen the foreign exchange (forex) crisis rather than help fix it.
Economists have explained the reasons for Nigeria’s forex shortage include inadequate exportable products, apart from oil, as well as dollar racketeering and roundtripping by banks – none of which the government is tackling.
Obi argued on his X (Twitter) handle the clampdown on BDCs North and South is wrong because BDC operators are not primarily the problem.
“The recent reported attacks and disruption of the business activities of Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators in different urban centers across the country by government agencies, are ill-advised and wrongly directed,” he said.
“Rather than solve the problem, the action will further escalate and worsen the exchange rate situation in the country.
“The BDCs are not the primary suppliers of forex nor do they create demand. They only provide a market to sellers and buyers of foreign currency.”
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Fight corruption, move from consumption to production
Obi stressed BDC operators are common in all economies, developed and developing, as vital service providers.
“To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira is a smack on rational economic thinking.
“The only way to shore up the value of our currency is to move the country from consumption to production, especially export-led production, and fight corruption, which allows unproductive money to pursue the available supply of foreign currency.
“As long as Nigeria remains an unproductive economy and corruption continues unfettered with people in possession of unproductive excess cash, the value of our currency will continue to depreciate.”
Obi reiterated the need for government officials to appropriately comprehend how a modern economy functions and direct their efforts accordingly.