The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Wednesday disclosed that over 200 Bureau de Change companies had met the new guidelines introduced by the bank recently.

The CBN had recently increased the capital base of the BDC companies from N10m to N35m, among other guidelines. It gave the BDC companies until July 31, 2014, to comply.

Emefiele, who stated this when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Banking and Currency, said the time frame given to the BDC operators to comply was adequate.

According to the CBN governor, the bank is committed to stemming the depletion of the country’s foreign reserves from unproductive transactions.

Far from achieving the objectives for which BDC companies were set up, the CBN boss said the operations of the BDC had been characterised by rent-seeking, weak operational structure, financing of illicit transactions, gradual dollarisation of the economy and multiple ownership of BDC licences.

The governor, therefore, reiterated that the bank had resolved to sanitise the operations of the BDC companies, among other measures to stop what he described as hemorrhage in the foreign reserves of the country.

Contrary to the misconception that the policy was targeted at a particular section of the country, he noted that the central bank formulated policies for the good of the entire country.

He appealed to the legislators to support the bank in its resolve to strengthen the economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.