After 8 years of Forex Restrictions on 43 import items by the Central Bank of Nigerians (CBN) which many had believed is the root course of untold hardship to the country, the apex bank on Thursday announced the removal of the restriction on those items.
By this announcement, importers of rice, cement, poultry products and others goods on the list can now access foreign exchange directly from the central bank.
According to a statement from the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN said all importers will now be allowed to purchase forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
The statement reads in parts “
“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.
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 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.
“Participants and the general public are to be guided by the above” the statement concluded.
Recall that at the beginning of Former President Mohammadu Bihari’s administration in 2015, the CBN had announce the restriction of foreign exchanges for 43 import items which the apex bank said the move was to encourage local sourcing and production of those items.
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