The Central Bank of Nigeria has lifted Foreign exchange restrictions earlier placed on the importation of some items.
A substantial modification has been made to the foreign exchange market policy, according to a statement released by the CBN and signed by Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, the bank’s director of corporate communications.
The Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market now permits importers to purchase foreign currency for their transactions, notwithstanding the previous restriction prohibiting them from doing so for 43 particular commodities.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned some products’ access to the foreign exchange market as of October 2021. These products included rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and animal products that were processed, and vegetables and their processed products.
Among others are: poultry and items processed from poultry, salmon or sardines in a can with sauce (Geisha), chilly-rolled steel sheets, sheets of galvanized steel sheets for roofing, Containers made of metal, head pans, wheelbarrows, etc Bakelite, Iron rods, reinforcing bars, steel pipes, steel drums, and wire rods—both deformed and undeformed.
Aside from wire mesh, steel nails, security and razor fences and poles, wood particle boards and panels, wood fiberboards and panels, plywood boards and panels, wooden doors, toothpicks, glass and glassware, kitchen utensils, tableware, and ceramic and vitrified tiles were also on the list.
The bank also detailed that it was putting effort into clearing all backlogs of Forex with existing participants.
News About Nigeria recounts that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, in an effort to foster the growth of locally created commodities, took major steps to discourage importation, including a restriction on the importation of rice, sugar, and other items. However, President Tinubu has continued to make efforts towards reversing those policies since taking office.
