Forex crisis: Obi rejects raid on BDCs, tackles FG

Forex crisis: Obi faults security operatives’ disruption of BDC activities
By Abbas Jimoh
Presidential Candidate of Labour Party in 2023 elections, Peter Obi, says the recent disruption of the activities of Bureaux de Change (BDCs) operators in different urban centers across the country by government agencies, including security operatives are ill-advised and misdirected.

He said this on Sunday in posts on his Twitter handle.

Daily Trust reports that the federal government as part of measures to save the naira from further volatility against the US dollar and other international denominations, ordered the EFCC and DSS agents to raid BDC operators in Abuja, Ibadan, Kano, Enugu and other states.

The former Anambra State governor said the government’s action may aggravate the country’s foreign exchange predicament.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“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.

“It’s important therefore that government authorities properly understand the workings of a modern economy and channel their efforts accordingly,” Obi said.