Obi: Clampdown on bureau de change operators’ll worsen forex

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, says the clampdown on Bureau de Change (BDC) operators by government agencies would worsen the foreign exchange rate.

Obi said the BDC operators are not the primary suppliers of forex, describing the reported clampdown on them as ill-advised and wrongly directed.

The two-term former governor of Anambra State said this in a series of tweets on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, February 25, 2024.

He stated: “The recent reported attacks and disruption of the business activities of Bureau de Change (BDCs) operators in different urban centers across the country by government agencies, are ill-advised and wrongly directed.

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“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.

“They are part and parcel of every economy and can be found even in the developed economies of the world. To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira is a smack on rational economic thinking.”

Obi stressed that the only way to shore up the value of the naira is to move the country from consumption to production, especially export-led production, and fight corruption, which, he said, allows unproductive money to pursue the available supply of foreign currency.

The former governor added: “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.”