Forex: Govt Clamp Down On BDC Operators Wrongly Advised – Obi

The National leader of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has said the recent attacks on Bureau de Change (BDC) operators, by agencies of the Federal Government is ill-advised and wrongly directed.

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Sunday Telegraph reports that the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), reportedly launched attacks on BDC operators in different urban centers across the country in a bid to arrest the continued depreciation of naira in the foreign exchange market.

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But Obi said in his X handle on Sunday that the attacks would escalate the problem rather mitigate it.

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The former LP candidate in the 2023 presidential election stated that “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.

They are part and parcel of every economy and can be found even in the developed economies of the world.”

According to him, “To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira is a smack on rational economic thinking.”

He maintained that the only way the value of naira could improve is for the country to move from consumption to production, and fight corruption in government.

This, he added, would allow 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.

“It’s important therefore that government authorities properly understand the workings of a modern economy and channel their efforts accordingly, and stop ridiculing the nation in the eyes of global economies,” he advised