BREAKING: CBN Lifts Forex Ban Placed By Emefiele On Importation Of Rice, Cement, 41 Other Items

…Vows To Clear All Forex Backlogs

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday finally lifted the foreign exchange restriction ban placed by a former governor of the bank, Me Godwin Emefiele on the importation of 43 items.

The apex bank lifted the restriction in a statement issues by the Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isa AbdulMumin.

The apex bank said in the statement made available to THE WHISTLER that the 43 items are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

Emefiele, who President Bola Tinubu, on June 9, suspended as CBN governor and has since then been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), introduced the ban on the 43 items in 2015 through a Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010.

To sustain the stability of the naira and ensure the efficient utilisation of forex, the CBN excluded importers of 41 items from accessing forex at the exchange markets to encourage local production and modified the list subsequently to 43 items.

The items are:
Rice

1. Cement
2. Margarine
3. Palm kernel/palm oil products/vegetables oils
4. Meat and processed meat products
5. Vegetables and processed
6. vegetable products
7. Poultry – chicken, eggs, turkey
8. Private airplanes/jets
9. Indian incense
10. Tinned fish in sauce (geisha)/sardines
11. Cold-rolled steel sheets
12. Galvanised 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 and reinforcing bars
22. Wire mesh
23. Steel nails
24. Security and razor wire
25. Wood particle boards and panels
26. Wood fibre boards and panels
27. Plywood boards and panels
28. Wooden doors
29. Furniture
30. Toothpicks
31. Glass and Glassware
32. Kitchen utensils
33. Tableware
34. Tiles – vitrified and ceramic
35. Textiles
36. Woven fabrics
    Clothes
37. Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
38. Soap and cosmetics
39. Tomatoes/tomato paste
40. Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases
41. Dairy/milk
42. Maize

In the statement, the CBN said it 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.

It said, “The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange 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.

“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.”