Victor Ezeja
Admin
Nine years after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under its former Governor, Godwin Emefiele, placed restriction on access to the official foreign exchange (forex) market for the importation of some 43 items, the ban was on Thursday lifted by the apex bank.
This was announced in a statement released by the CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Dr Isa Abdulmumin, who assured that the central bank will continue to intervene at the official forex market to meet the rising demand.
Noting that the lifting of the restrictions is a significant change to the foreign exchange market policy, CBN said the decision will boost liquidity in the Nigerian forex market, stating that its periodic interventions will decrease as liquidity improves.
READ ALSO: CBN Sustains Market Intervention To Stabilize Exchange Rates, Announces New Measures
Although the value of the naira has remained stable at around N760-N770 to the dollar at the I & E window, the demand pressure at the parallel market had seen it spiral to over N1,040 to the dollar as of midweek.
Prime Business Africa recalls that the CBN had in a circular in June 2015, published a list of imported goods and services that will not be eligible for foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign currency market. The list which was originally 41 was updated to include two more items.
Below is the list of the items:
1. Rice
2. Cement
3. Margarine
4. Palm kernel
5. Palm oil products
6. Vegetable oils
7. Meat and processed meat products
8. Vegetables and processed vegetable products
9. Poultry and processed poultry products
10. Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardine
11. Cold rolled steel sheets
12. Galvanized steel sheets
13. Roofing sheets
14. Wheelbarrows
15. Head pans
16. Metal boxes and containers
17. Enamelware
18. Steel drums
19. Steel pipes
20. Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
21. Iron rods
22. Reinforcing bars
23. Wire mesh
24. Steel nails
25. Security and razor fencing and poles
26. Wood particle boards and panels
27. Wood fiberboards and panels
28. Plywood boards and panels
29. Wooden doors
30. Toothpicks
31. Glass and glassware
32. Kitchen utensils
33. Tableware
34. Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
35. Gas cylinders
36. Woven fabrics
37. Clothes
38. Plastic and rubber products
39. Polypropylene granules
40. Cellophane wrappers and bags
41. Soap and cosmetics
42. Tomatoes/tomato pastes
43. Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases
Thursday’s statement, which lifted the restrictions, reads, “Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a Willing Buyer – Willing Seller principle.
“The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates.
“As part of its responsibility to ensure price stability, the CBN will boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market by interventions from time to time. As market liquidity improves, these CBN interventions will gradually decrease.
“The CBN is committed to accelerating efforts to clear the FX backlog with existing participants and will continue dialogue with stakeholders to address the issue. The CBN has set as one of its goals the attainment of a single FX market. Consultation is ongoing with market participants to achieve this goal.”
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