ABCON applauds bankers’ committee for planned incentives on Renminbi

THE Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has praised the CBN-led Bankers’ Committee for promising incentives to Nigerian businesses that import their machinery and goods with Chinese Renminbi/Yuan instead of dollar, adding that such act will deepen entrepreneurs’ interest in the currency swap deal.

According to the regulations for transactions with authorised dealers in Renminbi, importers intending to import from China shall obtain pro forma invoice denominated in Renminbi as part of the documents required for registration of Form ‘M’.

ALSO READ: Nigerian economy, naira value and revaluation

The association is happy with the $2.5 billion currency swap agreement between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), saying the deal will promote naira’s sovereignty in Africa.

ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, who spoke on the agreement at the weekend in Lagos, said the naira will benefit hugely from the deal given the rising influence of Chinese Yuan in the international market. He said the admittance of Yuan into the basket of International Monetary Fund (IMF) currencies and the Naira/Yuan swap deal will actualise the dream of naira sovereignty in Africa.

The naira has remained stable at both the official and parallel markets, as the CBN continues its weekly dollar interventions. The naira which in February 2017 was exchanging at N520/$ in the parallel market now exchanges at N361/$ while rate at the official market remains N305.9/$. The Yuan has equally made significant progress this year, appreciating 1.8 per cent against the dollar to become the world’s second-strongest Asian currency.